Back in Black
by Lt. Commander Richie
Summary: Lenalee Lee, Exorcist of the Black Order, is dead. This is her afterlife, and the trials that come with it.
1. Night 1: Death and the Butterfly

**Back in Black**

_Lt. Commander Richie_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own either Bleach or D Gray-man. Eyup.

**A/N: **I love this idea so much. Unfortunately it was born of writer's block. But still, it's a great idea in my opinion~ The adventures of Lenalee in Soul Society, should she be dead and in possession of a dual zanpakuto! Yeah!

_Night 1: Death and the Butterfly_

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"Usually, with a single zanpakuto, when you're the one establishing the connection you must focus solely on the spirit. However, in this case you must divide your attention equally between both spirits. If your attention wavers, depending on the temperament of the spirits you may have difficulty establishing an open connection again." The breeze blew through the grass and made it ripple, loose wildflower petals and other small pieces of debris flitting about like birds in the otherwise still atmosphere. Her Captain had a very calming voice, deep and commanding as well as soft and understanding. Another gust of wind blew through the garden, and this time it was strong enough to pick up their hair and blow it around. Her pigtails lashed like whips in the air, twin black snakes snapping and curling with the gusts. His fluttered gently, blending with the clouds like a silent flag.

"I'm doing my best," she said, her voice calm and level as she sat straight-backed on a small rock. It rose above the grass like a throne, and she looked every inch the queen of all of her grassy green territory. Her long legs were folded tightly into the lotus position, the soles of her feet facing the sky with her knuckles resting upon them. On her feet was a pair of black metal shoes, hard and unforgiving despite the fact that they bent with her every flex. Another gust of wind blasted through the garden, and this time a small twig was swept up with the leaves and loose grass and smacked her right in the cheek. She cried out in shock and whipped a hand to her face, purple eyes flying open in surprise.

"Lenalee!" her Captain was on his feet in an instant, concern in his brown eyes. Lenalee fixed him with a disarming smile and wiped what little blood there was off onto her sleeve, settling back down into the lotus position despite the chopping wind.

"I'm alright, sir. A stick is the least of my problems." The warmth in her eyes was enough to make her Captain sit back down, folding his own legs into the lotus position and retrieving his zanpakuto from where it had fallen off of his lap. Once the blue and red sword lay across his lap once again the lesson began once more.

"The temperament of one's zanpakuto is no different than your own. If you're a laid-back and unconcerned person, your zanpakuto will be just as difficult to deal with. If you're brash and forward, your zanpakuto will be just as willing to fight as you are." The wind began to die down slowly, the temperature rising as the chill started to fade. "Like Captain Abarai and his zanpakuto," he added as an afterthought. Lenalee was completely quiet as her Captain spoke, not even so much as a twitch disturbing her careful breathing and serene expression. She was a picture of concentration and understanding, and as the wind stilled to nothing the entire world seemed to slow to a stop around her. Nothing moved except for the slowly-welling trickle of hot blood in the scratch on her face.

Thinking back, Juushiro Ukitake did not think he made a mistake promoting her to Vice-Captain. He had needed one for so long after Kaien died, and his division was nothing if not slightly unbalanced with two Third-Seats taking up the second position. When Lenalee- a prodigy in her own right after being inducted into the Academy already in possession of a dual zanpakuto –graduated from the Academy with marks that hadn't been seen for a hundred years, he immediately snatched her up for his own division and began training her. Then of course the Winter War got in the way, but she proved herself in combat defending Rukongai and the Seiretei along with the rest of the divisions.

Despite all this, however, there seemed to be a lingering apprehension that followed the girl everywhere she went. Much like Kaien before her, she had refused promotions until forcibly given them. She put the well-being and abilities of those around her before her own, citing only that she didn't want to be given any sort of preferential treatment because of her status as a dual-wielder. It was almost as though she thought the people around her were more deserving of higher positions, though after twenty years Captain Ukitake had learned that that was not, in fact the case. The beautiful young woman lived only for the people around her, and would do anything to see her family- the 13th Division, succeed in any way possible.

It was that kind of devotion that she had once let slip had killed her. She died, apparently, in the process of killing an enemy much stronger than herself in order to save her friends. By all means, souls were not supposed to remember their past lives. The diminutive-looking pigtailed Vice-Captain was as much of a warrior as anyone in the 11th Division, but at the same time she was a gentle and loving soul that would help anyone in need. The wind started up again in a sharp gust, and the Captain shielded his eyes from a hail of small pieces of dirt. A black cloud loomed on the horizon, and as he watched a bolt of lightning cracked across the sky so violently that it was like a war was taking place in the heavens.

"We ought to get back to the Division offices, Lenalee." She opened her eyes at that, blinking them widely as though she had just woken from a dream. Another crackle of lightning rent the sky asunder with white light, and the summer storm really began to blow against them. The temperature dropped as the wind blew harder, but it was still uncomfortably hot. This was, no doubt, a true summer lightning storm.

"I got it!" The Vice-Captain was cheerful as she stood, long legs unfolding gracefully until she stood tall on her rock. It was only with the aid of the rock that she could look her Captain directly in the eyes, and it would have been funny if the two of them weren't about to get caught in a lightning storm out in the middle of a garden field in the far reaches of the 13th Division's grounds. Captain Ukitake carefully slid his zanpakuto into the himo of his uniform, the worn red grip of the sword as familiar to him as breathing.

"We'll have to run, I'm not feeling particularly up to shunpo tod-" a pair of thin arms encircled his waist, and all talk was cut off as the scenery suddenly blurred out of focus and a very strong sense of vertigo took over. At one point there was a twist, possibly upside-down, because all of a sudden the ground was blue and the sky was green, but this righted rather quickly and the ride was over. The arms let go, and Lenalee stepped back carefully. The large black boots that encircled her legs clicked on the tile deck of the training grounds, and she looked away bashfully. Ukitake blinked heavily several times, a hand going to his forehead as an overwhelming sense of nausea finally caught up with him and he stumbled slightly. Lenalee cried out in concern, starting forward to help her Captain despite having been the one that caused the distress.

"Are you alright, sir? I'm sorry I did that!" Captain Ukitake smiled, righting himself and placing one pale hand on his Vice-Captain's head right between her pigtails and the decorative golden ties she held them in. She looked ready to cry, and her height decreased by several inches as her boots curled in on themselves and became a pair of black shoes once again.

"It's alright. Just warn people before you take off with them and you should be just fine. It's nothing more than a little vertigo." A smile powered through her unshed tears, and she blinked them out of the way and shook her bangs from her face. "Now! If I guess right, I think I have a Captain's meeting tonight! That means we have to get the paperwork done!" Without a beat missed the white-haired Captain reached into one of his sleeves and pulled out a small chocolate rabbit wrapped in tinfoil with a large pink bow tied around its neck. Lenalee took it, amazed at the trick even after years of seeing it performed, not disappointed in the slightest that it was a little squishy.

"Can I do the requisition forms and keep going through the Academy graduate files?" The Vice-Captain asked, looking hopeful. Ukitake beamed, starting off for his office and beckoning her along.

"Of course you can! I'll have someone start some tea, and we ought to be done in time to take the long way around to get to the 1st Division!" His smile seemed nearly impossible to diffuse, yet it did when he realized that he was talking to empty air. Lenalee was already at the porch, pulling off her shoes in rapid succession before running up onto the wooden deck with the black shoes in her hands.

"It's alright, I've got the tea!" She yelled over her shoulder, her pigtails and the green scarf she kept tied around the top of her stiff white obi blowing out behind her as she ran. Ukitake started to say something, hand rising to stop her, but she was already through an open doorway and into the offices. Sometimes, he mused, she was simply too nice for her own good. There was not a single thing she wouldn't do just to be kind to someone. It was those qualities that made him think of her as a daughter, someone to be cherished and helped and supported, just as much as he thought of her as a subordinate. She was no doubt the best thing that had happened to the 13th Division in a very long time, and he was grateful that he had managed to snatch her up for his ranks before Shunsui or the Captain-General could recruit her for the 1st or 8th Divisions.

In the distance, lightning flashed. It took five seconds for the thunder to crack, as compared to the instantaneous sound that accompanied the lightning out in the garden. A Hell Butterfly flitted lazily from a Hydrangea towards a large decorative Buddleia bush, its conical stems of white flowers already encrusted with the black and red insects. Ukitake allowed a smile to creep across his features at the sight full of serenity as he passed it, taking the longer way through the gardens to get to the back covered porch connected to his office. The walk usually only took minutes, but the calm and beauty of the garden was enough to make the centuries-old Captain slow to a crawl of a pace. He could feel the creeping lethargy of the afternoon taking over him, easing him into a state of peace that he hadn't fully enjoyed in a very long time.

Then, of course, the sound of an explosion and a plume of smoke and fire rose from the 12th Division and utterly ruined the lethargy of the summer afternoon. Several alarms and an annoyingly repetitive klaxon jumped into their work with vigor, causing enough of a racket that the entire Buddleia bush was vacated of its insect inhabitants in an impressive display of black and red glittering wings. Unfortunately, an explosion in the 12th Division wasn't much of a surprise. Neither were the swiftly-approaching spiritual pressures from that same direction, familiar and powerful in their distinct tints of personality. The petals were stripped from a good portion of the surrounding flowers as someone in a Captain's haori shunpoed through the garden with little regard for their surroundings, followed by a crash as a Division wall was rudely blown apart by sheer strength. Captain Ukitake kept walking, however, deftly stepping out of the way as the chase resumed.

The rest of the walk to the back porch was quiet and serene, despite the blaring klaxons and intermittent smaller explosions that filtered in from the 12th. The smell of burning building materials was thankfully blown away from the 13th by the wind, but Juushiro couldn't help but pity the 10th and 11th divisions. As he sat and untied his sandals he thought he could hear the sounds of a fight breaking out, but after a moment it faded away and he thought nothing more of it. With a few quick motions he tied the ties of his sandals together and hung them over one of the rafters of the covered porch, waiting for the rain to come and clean them of the day's accumulated dirt and grime. His sock-clad feet making no noise on the wooden porch, the Captain slid open the shoji doors to his office as wide as they would go to expose it to the sunny courtyard garden. Lenalee already sat at her own desk, a steaming cup of tea next to her inkwell. The teapot and his own cup sat next to a stack of forms and his own inkwell on his desk.

"I made Ginseng, sir. I also went and got a personal requisition form because we're out of everything else, so if you want to fill it out it's on the top of the pile." Ukitake nodded, sinking down onto the cushion behind his deck and reaching for a brush. The contentment of a summer day filled the office as the two shinigami worked.

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A stick of dango hanging from her mouth from a vendor that both she and her Captain visited every time they had to go to the 1st Division, Lenalee made her way into the conference area where the Vice-Captains' meeting was being held. She struggled with tying her badge onto her arm with only one hand, the other hand holding another two sticks of dango and her shoes in an awkward grip. Her socks were stuffed into her shoes and her hair was bundled into a messy wet bun between her gold pigtail ties, vaguely damp footprints marring the hardwood floor behind her all the way to the front entrance. Unfortunately, as both Captain and Vice-Captain had found out, a parasol only does so much to fend off the onslaught of a monsoon-like downpour. The ruined parasol was abandoned somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd Divisions, tossed haphazardly as the slushy hail had started rather unexpectedly. That calmed down by the time the two officers got to the 1st Division gates, but the rain was still falling so heavily that small rivers were forming in the streets.

Lenalee opened the door to the conference area and a towel was immediately shoved at her by someone, and she fumbled with it and the other things she held as she gave up on tying her badge to her arm. It turned out to be Vice-Captain Matsumoto, who promptly robbed her of a stick of dango and went to go lounge across three chairs that had been no doubt occupied before she had evicted the people in them. Lenalee sat her shoes by the door and stood, the fluffy white towel draped around her neck and the remaining extra stick of dango clutched in a death grip with her badge. In one large chomp she removed the rest of the dango from the stick in her mouth, and then held the other one between her teeth as she used both hands to awkwardly tie her badge onto her upper arm. With that done she pulled the gold hair ties from her hair and began toweling the long black locks down as vigorously as she could.

"If we could have order, we will begin." Matsumoto sat up as Vice-Captain Sasakibe began speaking, freeing the two seats she had monopolized for her impromptu chaise lounge. Vice-Captains Kira and Kuchiki grabbed them as quickly as they could without looking like they were desperate, and Lenalee took a seat towards the end of the long table as she wrapped her long hair up in her towel. When all of the Vice-Captains sans Kusajishi were seated the 1st Division Vice-Captain cleared his throat and began addressing the assembled officers. "At the moment, the Captains are discussing a rise in the sightings of Arrancars in populated areas of the Living Realm. However, this is not our concern," Vice-Captain Sasakibe paused, watching as the pink-haired terror from the 11th Division slowly but surely crept up behind Vice-Captain Kurotsuchi. When it seemed as though nothing particularly interesting was going to happen, however, he continued. "There have been reports coming from the higher-numbered districts of Rukongai of a white creature destroying Hollows. Reportedly, it takes the shape of a large white humanoid lion. Usually reports such as this are written off, however given the sheer number of people that have sighted the creature and the relative consistency of the reports we're inclined to believe that it is in fact true."

Silence reigned in the conference area, broken only by the steady static background noise of the torrential downpour outside. Lightning flashed outside the window and was accompanied instantaneously by thunder, and the electric lighting flickered slightly overhead. Lenalee and Vice-Captain Matsumoto both chewed silently on dango, digesting the outlandish-sounding words much like the rest of the room's inhabitants.

"What are we looking at, in terms of power?" The stretch of silence was broken by Vice-Captain Kuchiki, her voice level but inquisitive. The question was a valid one, and murmurs of assent rippled around the table as several Vice-Captains leaned forward in interest.

"Reports are still being substantiated; however, it is believed that the creature has killed around thirty Hollows in the past two months. The Onmitsukido team in charge of tracking the creature has had no luck in discovering its den, and though it has yet to do so we do not want to wait until it has attacked something or someone that isn't a Hollow before we act." Vice-Captain Sasakibe paused at the very interested looks boring into him, and the 11th's Vice-Captain took that chance to lunge forward and use Nemu Kurotsuchi's braid as a swing. The young woman didn't flinch or even so much as sway as the young pink-haired girl swung back and forth cheering like she was having the time of her life. Vice-Captain Oomaeda pulled out a bag of chips at that point, and several arguments started up. The meeting quickly dissolved into chaos, leaving Vice-Captain Sasakibe to try and pull it back together. In the back of the room, Lenalee tried desperately to run her fingers through her long hair to get some of the knots from towel-drying it out.

A hairbrush was thrust under her nose by someone, and the Vice-Captain looked up to see Vice-Captain Ise holding it out to her. She smiled gratefully around the stick of uneaten dango in her mouth and took the brush, quickly and carefully eliminating the knots she couldn't otherwise get rid of. After a moment she began to struggle, the ends of the hair behind her proving difficult to reach without causing more tangles ad snarls.

"I've got it." Nanao gently took the brush and began pulling the knots out, quickly finishing and then pulling all of the younger Vice-Captain's hair back into two tails at the base of her skull. "Pass me your hair ties, please." Lenalee handed her one and she went to work pulling one long pigtail up to where she usually kept them, securing it with a click before accepting the second one and repeating the process. Around them the Vice-Captain's meeting increasingly deteriorated into chaos, Rangiku having pulled out the sake from somewhere on her person and started passing it around. She and Vice-Captains Kira, Tetsuzaemon and Kotsubaki were engaging in a drinking contest that apparently involved stripping in Izuru's case. Nanao ran the brush through Lenalee's pigtails one more time before stowing it away, then adjusted her glasses and patted the younger girl on the head.

"Thank you," Lenalee smiled, draping her damp white towel around her neck and taking a large bite of the dango she had left. She didn't usually eat the confections in such large quantities, but her Captain had gotten a fair amount and handed her some then never really took them back. They were good, though, and the rickety little stand you could buy them at really hid the fact that it produced probably the best dango in the entire Seiretei.

Outside, the rain began to fall in even heavier torrents. The wind blew the droplets against the windows in sheets, and you could hear it whistle through the rafters of the covered porches outside if you listened hard enough. The windows rattled with such ferocity that the assembled officers grew quiet, and a flash of lightning accompanied by an immediate crash of thunder was apparent in that instant. What was also apparent were the lights going out with a pop and a flicker, and one of the windows shattering as a stick the size of a small branch smashed into it. With that, Vice-Captain Sasakibe gave up on attempting to regain control of the meeting and simply began ushering people out the door. Lenalee grabbed her shoes on the way out into the dark hall, finding herself immediately sandwiched between a half-undressed Izuru and a rather inebriated Rangiku. Nemu was physically picking people up and moving them out of the way of herself and Vice-Captain Kusajishi, who occupied the space on her shoulders and was pulling on her braid like reins. Small scuffles and some yelping were heard in the darkness, and someone managed to squish Vice-Captain Kuchiki into the wall opposite the door before she punched them particularly hard and then started reciting the incantation for Bakudo #8. There was a bright flash of red and several people fell over incapacitated, allowing more room for the confused shinigami to vacate the hallway.

"I'm going to go wait for my Captain outside their conference hall, Nanao. Are you coming with me?" Nanao nodded an affirmative at the younger Vice-Captain, placing a hand on her head like everyone seemed to like to do.

"Lead the way, Lenalee." She said, and the two of them trudged off into the darkness of the 1st Division's headquarters in search of their Captains.

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**So like, OMG, I should totally be working on The Loveless right now but I just seem to have lost inspiration for it. I'll have it back eventually, I swear, but at the moment I just can't seem to write anything for it. I love this idea though, and I wanna roll with it so bad because I can't help but love it. I've got the first eleven chapters done, so you guys can expect Monday updates once a week until at least the first week of September.  
**

**So. Some background on this. If you really can't tell, it's kind of a "What If" story. What if Lenalee died in the battle with the Level 3 she fought on the way to Edo? What if she ended up in Rukongai as a soul with a high amount of reiryoku? What if her Dark Boots were her zanpakuto, and each one functioned as a separate entity to effectively make her a dual-wielding shinigami? What if she was Vice-Captain of the 13****th**** Division because I love writing about Captain Ukitake like nobody's business? **

**So yeah. Lenalee as a shinigami. I love this idea and have all sorts of stuff planned for it, so don't knock it until you've tried it. **

**It kinda seems that way even to me while writing it, but I swear on my handmade wooden Sogyo no Kotowari that this will not be Juushiro/Lenalee. No. Absolutely not. Will not happen whatsoever, I do not intend to write it, but Lenalee loves everyone and it can certainly seem like it might go that way at times but I swear it won't happen or I will stop writing this because it really does make absolutely no sense. **

**LCR, writing Bleach for the first time kinda, signing out until the next update. Review or I will hunt you down and Sogyo no Kotowari you. **


	2. Night 2: Turn Back the Time Record 1

**Back in Black**

_Lt. Commander Richie_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own either Bleach or D Gray-man. Eyup.

**A/N: **I love this idea so much. Unfortunately it was born of writer's block. But still, it's a great idea in my opinion~ The adventures of Lenalee in Soul Society, should she be dead and in possession of a dual zanpakuto! Yeah!

_Night 2: Turn Back the Time Record Part 1

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She woke in the middle of a dirty street, a little boy tugging on her pigtails and a little girl tugging on him. When she groaned the two yelled and ran, but not before the boy kicked her rather hard in the shoulder for good measure. The unfamiliar surroundings were fuzzy to her rheumy eyes, and she blinked heavily to rid her eyelashes of the dust and rubbed to clear her vision of sleep. The sun was bright and shining right onto her, warming her back to the point that it was uncomfortable. She groaned again as she tried to twitch her legs into movement, but they screamed with pain and she gave up almost immediately. Instead, the black-haired girl rolled over and faced the sun with wide purple eyes full of confusion.

She remembered fire and screaming, though she couldn't remember who the screams belonged to. A sensation of falling accompanied her last memories, a raging wind and a heavy weight that felt as though it would crush her down to her very core enveloping her senses. As she stared into the bright blue sky, devoid of any clouds and the prettiest shade you could ever imagine, she felt that weight fall away. It was the strangest feeling, as though a burden was erasing itself from her shoulders and she no longer had to comply with its wishes.

With a loud urgency, her stomach curled in on itself and grumbled so loud that a dog relaxing underneath a storefront porch shifted its head to look at her. She giggled and struggled to sit up, clenching her teeth to bite away the pain in her legs as she did so. Once at least upright she surveyed the street, oddly empty of people except for the storefront dog and an old woman three houses down that stared off into the distance over her cane with a certain determination. Next came her legs, and she cried out in shock at the state they were in. One was green and yellow with a fresh bruise, slowly becoming a dark shade of ugly purple that spanned much of her shin and up over her knee before disappearing up her thigh and under the black and white checkerboard pattern of the yukata she wore. The other was much the same, though banded with red scratches and scrapes as though something with claws had grabbed her by the shin and thrown her like a doll. Encasing her feet were a pair of simple black shoes, not even a heel on them, with a cross over the toe and extending up the front of her foot in a black stripe.

"What could I have possibly done to get all these?" Her voice surprised her, a light and happy tone that spoke in tones like a bell. "Did I get run over?"

"Physical injuries during life shouldn't come with you to the Spirit Realm." An old and gnarled voice made the girl's eyes snap upwards, fixing on the source. A small old woman, stern in the face and wrinkled like boot leather, stood over her leaning heavily on a cane. "Whatever gave you those bruises; it did it right down to your spirit." She paused, as though gathering her being together in a way that only those that had seen and experienced absolutely everything could do, and then gave a loud harrumph. "Can you stand?"

It took a long moment, full of gritted teeth and angry determination, before the girl could stand on her own two feet. Her pigtails fell over her shoulders and down her chest, and for some reason the weight of that hair was a comforting one. She took a step and the scratches on her right leg began to bleed, apparently much deeper than simple small lacerations. But she didn't cry out, opting instead to simply favor the leg and continue to try and walk. "Where am I?" She asked, biting out the words as she clenched her teeth.

"This is the 23rd District of Northern Rukongai," the old woman said, keeping the slow pace with the much younger girl as she tottered along with her cane. "Not the best place to sleep in the middle of a road, but not the worst. You got a name?"

The girl stilled, but the woman kept plodding along. She got a few feet before she painstakingly turned and looked the girl in the eye. A great blank expanse stretched through the black-haired girl's mind, and she searched it for a name that she knew to be hers. She saw faces of people that she couldn't recall the names of and names of people she couldn't recall the faces of, though it could very well be that she simply associate the two things and she knew them all. A man with glasses, a timid woman with dark circles ringing her eyes, a small woman with blunt-cut hair and a white bandanna, a redhead with an eyepatch and a boy with a scar. A blond woman and a monkey, an old man with a mustache, a redheaded man with glasses, a boy with a ponytail, a dark-skinned man with a topknot, they all appeared to her. Words and names followed in a jumble, and she tried to make sense of them as she blinked thoughtfully. Allen and Tiedoll and Kanda and Komui and Cloud and Miranda, Lavi and Reever and Matron and Timcampy and Bak and Renee. Not a single name made sense with the faces, and she resolved to sort them out as soon as she had her answer.

"Lenalee." She finally answered, her eyes focusing once again as she blinked and looked at the old woman. "Lenalee Lee. I'm sorry I don't know much more than that." The old woman nodded sagely and waited for the younger girl to catch up, the two of them making quite the pair as they hobbled along down the dusty street.

"It's alright; nobody remembers much beyond that when they first die. They're lucky to remember faces, maybe names, of the people they truly loved. Even if they do, those memories fade with time." The woman's voice sounded heavy, as though she had been one of those unlucky lucky ones. But she clucked her tongue and upped her pace, vim and vigor in her voice as she plodded down the path with gusto. "But that's what new memories are for! You make the best with what you've got, and if you can't hold onto those memories then they weren't truly dear!" Upon reaching her door the woman kicked off her shoes and entered, pushing aside the hanging cloth door with one gnarled hand and beckoning Lenalee in.

"I don't want to be any trouble to you." The black-haired girl said, the suddenness of the old woman inviting her in a little off-putting.

"Nonsense! Can't have a pretty girl like you wandering the streets, all sorts of bad things will happen to you!" Her gnarled hands still grasping her walking stick, the old woman reappeared with a wooden bowl full of steaming water with a rough piece of linen soaking inside. "Now come in here and let me clean up your legs so you'll stop bleeding all over the street." Appropriately reprimanded, Lenalee followed the old woman inside and slid off her black shoes, curiously devoid of the blood that was trickling down both legs now. She accepted the rough square of wet linen and wiped off the blood on her legs before stepping onto the rice mat floor, nearly collapsing onto the cushion she was told to sit on as the old woman unfurled several long bandages.

"My name is Yugodo." The old woman finally said, her gravely tone in stark contrast to the surprising softness of her leathery wrinkled hands. She was careful as she cleaned the cuts on Lenalee's bruised legs, harrumphing every time the girl flinched but didn't otherwise make a sound. "Noboko Yugodo." When all the blood and grime was gone the cuts on her right leg were exposed for what they really were- several deep lacerations in the shape of a gripping claw. Others were smaller scratches and burns, as though she had been scraped while running and kicking. Gently but efficiently, Noboko began wrapping the long bandages around her legs along with pads of thicker material and the occasional dab of a wet cloth. This continued until Lenalee's legs looked like a mummy's nearly all the way up to her hips.

"You didn't have to-" Lenalee began, but the old woman fixed her with a piercing look that told her to take kindness wherever she could.

"Of course I did. You're a pretty girl, and in Rukongai bad things happen to pretty girls." Noboko stood on creaking legs, her grip hard around her gnarled cane. Lenalee struggled to her feet as well, holding on to the wall as she simply couldn't put weight on her right leg. "Oh sit down! You'll tear up your legs even worse and they'll never heal." For good measure the small woman waved her cane at the girl, cowing her into sinking back down to the floor in a heavy movement. Her legs splayed about her, effectively useless because of the extensive bruising.

"Why?" Tears began to well up in Lenalee's eyes, making her vision blur and her face sting as the warm liquid began to seep out. The idea of not being able to walk brought about a feeling of helplessness, and with it came the strangest feeling of her wings having been clipped. Noboko had appeared out of nowhere and gave her kindness, and she couldn't even stand on her own two feet to repay it.

"I can't tell you why you died, little Lena, but the reason I'm helping you is purely selfish." Lenalee looked up at this, surprised to see the old woman holding a plank of wood and a knife in one hand and a basket of vegetables looped over the arm she held her cane with. "I just can't seem to hold this knife anymore, you see, and since your hands seem to be perfectly good I figured you could help me start lunch." With air of solemnity Noboko held the cutting board and knife out, and Lenalee took them and set them in front of her on the floor. With a little bit of fumbling she accepted the basket as well, putting it next to the board before looking back up at the old woman that stood before her.

"Thank you." A smile broke through the tear tracks on her face, and a gnarled hand reached forward and rested on top of the younger girl's head.

"It's the least I can let you do." The woman croaked, a smile of her own stretching across her face and deepening every well-earned wrinkle she had. "If you want to stay," she began, making her way to the front door and stooping down to put her wooden sandals on. "I won't object to it. I'm old, and I could use the company. When you're done I'll be on the porch, we can start the soup then." With a determined mindset, Lenalee grabbed a small bushel of large carrots, tied together at the top by their stems. She cut the knot apart and then began slicing with gusto, careful to avoid her own fingers as she worked to repay the kindness she had been offered.

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The first night in North Rukongai's 23rd District was the worst. In the light everything was serene, if not a little dirty, but in the dark it seemed as though every shadow was watching you. At night the thieves came out, and the men sat around and got drunk. You could hear the occasional group of souls pass by, singing crude songs as they no doubt sloshed their drinks everywhere. That night, Lenalee slept on a spare futon with her arm as her pillow, her legs stretched out at an awkward angle but numb from disuse and unable to move without screaming in pain.

In the waking hours, she could distract herself with learning about the Seiretei and Rukongai. Already Noboko was laughing and joking at her inquisitiveness, and had promised her more information in the morning. But with the lanterns all snuffed and the shutters all closed, the only light visible was the starlight and moonlight through the opening in the ceiling for the fireplace in the center of the main room. It was next to that fireplace that Lenalee had placed her futon, not so close that she would be uncomfortably warm or that she would run the risk of catching sparks as logs crushed inwards on themselves, but close enough that if she craned her head just right she could see pinpricks of light on an inky blackness.

It was in that darkness that she could see the faces of people she must have known, the names all jumbled up like a puzzle waiting to be completed. She couldn't begin to remember who each name belonged to, but she mouthed the words all the same just to see if she felt the familiarity. Her lips formed strange syllables, no sound issuing forth despite her wanting to say each name out loud. Nothing felt quite right anymore, as though she was missing a piece of a puzzle so large that she should be grieving its loss like the loss of a parent. Sighing, Lenalee rolled into her side and immediately hissed at the pain in both her side and her legs. Rolling back onto her back, she reached one hand into her black and white yukata and fumbled around looking for what had stabbed her in the side. Her fingers found warm metal, and she pulled it from the fabric with a good amount of confusion. The part of her side it had apparently been pressing against all day felt suddenly cool, and she idly wondered how she hadn't noticed the metal object before then.

With only a whisper of sound she held the shape up to the moonlight filtering down from the ceiling. The firelight glinted off of the metal, turning it an orange-red color that glinted beautifully on the mirror-like surface. What light there was illuminated symbols she couldn't make heads or tails of, the entire thing like a cross with a pointed bottom like a star that was arranged completely around a circle in the center of the four arms. On the back was a pin attachment, and engraved into the metal below the attachment in all-capital letters was LENALEE LEE. She raised her other hand to the shape in the darkness, running the tips of her fingers over the letters of her name in unconcealed wonder.

"Lenalee Lee," she whispered into the darkness, purple eyes full of curiosity at the sudden feeling that she had forgotten to say something, like a title she had earned or a greeting of some kind. Noboko had told her that those feelings wore off with time, but the feeling was so strong, like she had managed to blank on the kind of muscle memory that breathing was, that she was disinclined to believe her. Feeling a little braver in the relative silence of night, she reached into what memories she had and began reciting the names she seemed to love so much yet couldn't begin to remember why. She went through each as though she was greeting them at the breakfast table, a familiarity in her voice that made no sense. She didn't remember what these people were like, she couldn't even remember what names went to what faces. With a good amount of frustration she closed her eyes and let her hands fall to her sides, the silver cross tucked safely back into the front fold of her yukata where she had found it. The weight of the silver was comforting, though she wasn't so sure why.

That first night in the 23rd District of Northern Rukongai was hell, because her dreams were made of fire and cackling faces and a thousand eyes that stared at her as she sunk beneath the waves. Chains pulled her towards the ocean floor, the moonlight slowly disappearing into the murk as she struggled to breathe. Her limbs felt heavy in the blackness, and the only light present anymore was a green glow that seemed to permeate everything around her. She tried to breathe and swallowed water, grasping at her throat as she felt her limbs grow heavier than they already were. As she brushed the ocean floor the silt stirred around her, making a cloud of sand and fine dirt that choked her vision and invaded her senses.

Lenalee awoke with a start the next morning, gasping for air as though she had been holding her breath for hours as she slept.

-/-

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**So I guess that's really just a taste of what life was like for Lenalee in Rukongai. Every other chapter will be a Turn Back the Time Record chapter until it catches up with the main storyline. It shouldn't be much more than a couple chapters of Rukongai, a chapter or two of the Academy, a chapter or two of pre/during the Rescue Rukia arc, something from the Arrancar arc, and then various things from after the Fake Karakura arc until it catches up to the first chapter. **

**I love writing this for some very awesome reason. But as I write it is currently 12:41 AM and I should probably be sleeping instead of listening to old screamo music and typing. But I dun wanna.**

**But yeah, I'm basically inventing my own small filler-style arc for the main plot line, so don't mind me and my inability to think up a coherent plot to save my life. **


	3. Night 3: Mist Waltz in the Rain

**Back in Black**

_Lt. Commander Richie_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own either Bleach or D Gray-man. Eyup.

**A/N: **I love this idea so much. Unfortunately it was born of writer's block. But still, it's a great idea in my opinion~ The adventures of Lenalee in Soul Society, should she be dead and in possession of a dual zanpakuto! Yeah!

_Night 3: Mist Waltz in the Rain

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_

_-/-  
_

Together, Lenalee and Nanao stood in the dark hallway outside of the equally dark Captains' meeting for about an hour. Outside, the wind and rain whistled so loud that it was like the wailing of a particularly irate and hungry Hollow. The shutters over the windows rattled angrily every time the wind blew, adding to the racket that was slowly becoming less like a storm and more like a static tone of far-away music. Every time lightning crackled and thunder boomed, slats of light shone into the hallway for a split second. Summer storms in the Seiretei could be truly frightening when they wished to be, and nature could be crueler and far more destructive than any zanpakuto that could control the weather.

Eventually the lights flickered back on, making Lenalee and Nanao blink to clear the spots from their suddenly-ruined night vision. To make up for the repair of the electricity the storm began to really wail, whistling between buildings and ripping up roof tiles in a cacophony of breaking ceramics and slamming gates and window coverings. Lenalee began to look a little drowsy as the meeting wore on, her eyes drooping down to half-lidded as she slouched against the wall. The two Vice-Captains had long since dried, but their shihakusho still stuck to them in strange places and neither of them really felt like adjusting them if they were just going to end up out in the rain again. Nanao stifled a yawn, lifting a hand to look at the watch she kept on that wrist.

"It should be over soon," she began, once again stifling a yawn and shifting the grip she kept on her large book. "Weekly Captains' meetings don't go past eleven." Both of them knew that, but the time was creeping up on eleven rather quickly and the only thing either of them had heard from the conference area was the occasional shout. They had arrived at the tail end of what sounded like a scuffle, and knowing the people inside it was probably between Captains Kurosaki, Zaraki and Kurotsuchi over the continued destruction of the 12th Division grounds. It was unspoken, but the two Vice-Captains pitied whoever tried to pull those three apart.

"I hope so, the storm is getting worse and Captain Ukitake hasn't been well enough to take long jumps with shunpo recently." At a loss as to what to do with her hands and not wanting to wring them, she reached across her chest and grabbed at her Vice-Captain's badge. "I hate seeing this, Nanao. He's such a strong person, but sometimes he just gets so bad and I worry so much about him." The young Vice-Captain could feel the pinpricks of tears beginning in the corners of her eyes, and she blinked them away and shook her head. "It's silly, but sometimes I just get so scared."

"Everyone who's ever known him worries about him, Lenalee." Nanao used a finger to push her glasses further up the bridge of her nose, and they glinted in the stark electric lighting of the hallway. "We just don't tell him." As if on cue the doors to the conference area pushed open, the loud voices of Captains Kurosaki and Abarai reaching the ears of the two Vice-Captains before they even left the room. Lenalee stooped and picked up her shoes from where she had set them on the floor, standing at attention with Nanao as their superior officers filtered out into the hall.

"Ah! My darling sweet Nanao waited for me~" Nanao bristled as her Captain appeared out of the large wooden doors, a cloud of pink and a stubbly chin adorned with a kissy face. She raised her book to strike just as Lenalee raised one leg high above the level of her head, and the heavy tome connected with his face just as the axe kick connected with the top of his head. Suitably defeated, the Captain crumpled to the ground like a ragdoll. "My darling Nanao and my cute Lenalee are so cruel!" Captain Kyouraku whined from his place on the floor, ever the drama queen. Nanao grabbed him by the ear and hauled him up, heading down the hallway with her Captain on her short leash.

"Good evening, Vice-Captain Lee." Startled, Lenalee bowed to the man who had spoken without looking first. As she straightened up she realized it was Captain Hitsugaya, and she smiled widely at him. His own face, framed by shaggy white hair and cut across with an impressive scar, made no move to mirror it. "Your Captain should be along shortly."

"No need to be so formal!" Captain Hitsugaya bristled, his green eyes narrowing as he turned to face the very Captain in question. He got a face full of a handful of candy for his trouble, brushing it aside with a sour expression as he made his way down the hall towards the front entrance of the 1st Division.

"Captain, the storm isn't going to let up any time soon." A clueless expression on his face, Captain Ukitake turned to look at his Vice-Captain. "At the rate this rain is coming down, if the storm continues for much longer or gets worse the water level in the lake will rise above the floor level of Ugendo." Surprisingly, a pleasant smile spread across Captain Ukitake's features.

"It's alright," he began, gesturing for her to follow him as they headed towards the front gates of the 1st Division. "If it does, I won't lose anything particularly important and the carp will be happy."

"But sir, it's your home!" At his revelation Lenalee couldn't help but protest. She even reached for his arm in a movement that seemed like muscle memory, but thought better of it at the last moment. "You'll lose-"

"Absolutely nothing that can't easily be replaced. Putting a house in the middle of a lake has its disadvantages, Lenalee, and this wouldn't be the first time I've woken up to find a carp in my futon with me!" Lenalee bit her lip at his nonchalant, maybe even happy, tone. She clenched her free fist around the bottom edge of her skirt, wrinkling the uniform more so than it already was. As she paused, Captain Ukitake continued to walk down the hall.

"Sir, I believe it to be in the best interest of the Division if you took up temporary residence in your office. If your office is not satisfactory, I will sleep in the office and you can have my accommodations." As she spoke, her Captain slowed to a stop. He turned to look at her as she finished, a smile on his face that didn't look forced but didn't look happy either. It looked almost content, not judging or worrisome in the slightest. Tears welled in Lenalee's eyes at that look, and she bit her lip again. "First and foremost my job is to keep you from harm, just like every other Vice-Captain. Drowning in your sleep isn't a safe situation!" Suddenly full of steel, the young Vice-Captain literally put her foot down on the subject.

"I'm glad." She stopped, nonplussed. "All this time, I've been teaching you to stand up for what you think is right even if it goes against a superior officer's orders," Captain Ukitake paused, withdrawing his hands from his sleeves in a fatherly motion. "I know you think of the entire Division, if not the entirety of the Seiretei, as your family. I could never ask you to stand by as someone you love as your family endangered themselves." In an instant the Vice-Captain was by her Captain's side, throwing a punch into his shoulder that sent him stumbling. Before he could protest she had wrapped him in a hug. "Your Fist of Love hurts." He grumbled, but patted the girl on the head all the same.

"Your health shouldn't be my test!" It was a tense moment before she reached up and grabbed her Captain by the ear much like Nanao had to hers, pulling gently as she led him down the hall to the front entrance of the 1st Division. She didn't even stumble as she hopped on one foot to put one shoe on, then the other as they approached the exit. Juushiro rubbed his ear as she let go and stooped down, surprised as she handed him his waraji and then pushed open the heavy wooden door to the courtyard outside while he put them on. Immediately the two of them were beset by a torrential downpour, the wind nearly blowing the door shut before Lenalee kicked it wide open and strode out into the rain. Shielding his eyes with his sleeve, Captain Ukitake followed her out into the howl of the wind and rain.

"We're not walking back in this!" He protested, coming up alongside his Vice-Captain just in time for her to crouch low to the flooded courtyard on the balls of her feet.

"You are the wind in the butterfly's wings; you dance the waltz of the misty morning, Dark Boots!" With the cry of a release command, the ground around the Vice-Captain's feet burst into green light and twisted up her legs. Tall heels formed under her raised feet, and a spiked toe extended off of the front of the boot before fading into two raised hoops and a stripe of glowing green that extended up underneath the armor on her knees. Two bands of black circled her thighs, and a pair of disks hovered by each of her ankles. Before Captain Ukitake could speak a word of dissent she grabbed him and jumped.

Condensing spirit particles so as to stand in midair is not a problem for a shinigami. In fact, it's taught in the Academy while you take courses on Kido. However, few people master the process to the degree that they can do it from any angle and reverse the gravity there as well. Before the Hollowfication accident, Captain Hirako had been one of the few people able to do it that well. The shikai of Lenalee's Dark Boots, however, did it automatically from any angle to compensate for the speeds she could travel at. In a blast of sound and stinging rain, the two officers were propelled from the ground to a space several hundred feet in the air before bouncing from there straight across the Seiretei in a split second. The bang from the high velocity came just as lightning flashed, adding to the massive boom of thunder. They touched down in a massive splash, throwing water from the flooded courtyard every which way. Captain Ukitake wobbled uncertainly as Lenalee lost some height, her heels disappearing back down into the small black shoes she always wore. As if ushering them inside, lightning flashed again and thunder cracked so loud it left both their ears ringing. The two officers ran for the cover of the main building's heavy wooden doors, water getting everywhere as they threw them open and ran inside.

With the door shut, the storm was effectively closed out of the building. Lenalee stooped down and pulled off her shoes and her wet socks, balling the socks up and sticking them inside the shoes for ease of transport. "I'm home!" She whispered into the quiet building, squeezing the water out of her pigtails and onto the tiles of the entranceway. The puddle she made blended with her Captain's much more impressive one, both of them bleeding into the large puddle surrounding the door. With a shiver, Captain Ukitake pulled off his Captain's haori and began wringing it out. He continued to drip everywhere as he did so, white hair plastered all over his face and down his back.

"I'll be sleeping in my office, then." His voice was loud in the quiet of the empty entranceway, and Lenalee nearly jumped as he spoke. She squeezed the water out of her other pigtail and then out of her sleeves before accepting the heavy and still soggy white and red haori. Her Captain proceeded to squeeze the water from his own sleeves and then his hakama, before reaching back and pulling his hair into one long tail and squeezing the water from that.

"I'll put this in the laundry and find you a futon and blanket, sir." Juushiro turned, fully intending on stopping his Vice-Captain from going through the trouble, but she was already off like a shot down the hall and leaving a trail of wet footprints and drips behind her. He sighed loudly and wiped some hair from his face, stooping down to pull off his sodden waraji and his socks. To his annoyance he found that the straw had stained his tabi brown on the soles and spreading towards the top of the foot. Still, he tied the ties of the sandals together and stripped off the soggy and stained socks. His hakama was still sticking to him in funny places, but he wrung those out as best he could a second time and made his way towards his office. The wet footprints he was leaving in his wake on the hardwood floors were regrettable, but also unavoidable.

Thunder roared outside, and the whistling of the wind was a truly frightening sound. Ill-secured shutters flapped and banged in the wind, and by the end of the night or the end of the storm, whichever came first, they would no doubt be ripped apart and scattered across the courtyards and gardens. Another roar of thunder came as Ukitake rounded a corner, and with that the lights flickered for a moment before going out with a pop. He grumbled and squinted into the dark as he walked, finally managing to find his office door with only a modicum of difficulty. He slid the shoji door open with one hand, depositing his soggy straw sandals on the step up to the tatami floor before pausing at the edge of the rice mat flooring. Despite his best efforts to wring the water from his clothes he could still hear the distinct dripping sound of water on hardwood.

His office was pitch black except for a sudden flash of lightning that diffused through the shoji doors behind his desk that led to the garden outside, illuminating everything for a split second in faded white light. That split second of light illuminated no path he could take through the darkness without dripping on the tatami mat, and it was with a resigned sigh that he stepped out onto the rice flooring and across his office to retrieve the small lantern he kept on his desk. He fumbled with opening it for a moment as his eyes got used to the darkness of the room, but managed to get the lantern lit and a warm yellow glow to diffuse around the room. Now that he could see, he found that the dripping wasn't so bad with all things considered. He had left a small trail of water drops across the tatami flooring, but nothing that would cause permanent damage. In fact, he had done a rather good job of wringing himself out before he had ventured further into the Division.

"Sir?" There was a knock at the ajar shoji door into the hallway, and Lenalee appeared around it holding a wicker laundry basket with a folded futon and blanket on top of it. Her wet uniform was gone in favor of a green jinbei top and shorts, printed with nearly neon colored butterflies and flowers. In addition, her hair fell past her hips in one long tail held in place by one of her gold pigtail ties. She sat the laundry basket on the step up onto the tatami mats, picking up the futon and blanket in one pile and setting them aside before pulling a pillow from the basket and setting it on top of the pile. "A set of your yukata and hakama were in the laundry room, Captain, so I brought them for you. They're in the basket." She bowed deeply to him, straightening to give him a bright smile. "Good night!" With a flick of her long ponytail she was out the door and into the hall, closing the shoji door behind her.

Lightning flashed and thunder boomed as Juushiro pulled off his wet uniform and put on the clean yukata Lenalee had brought. In a strange stroke of luck it was one of his favorites, cartoon renderings of carp frolicking over the garment in a rather happy pattern. With the wet uniform emptied of loose change and handfuls of slightly wet candy, it was dumped into the laundry basket and set in the office's entryway. The orange glow of the lantern illuminated the floor just enough that he didn't trip over his own two feet as he unfolded the futon and the blanket, and as he sat the lantern down on the floor and slid into his bed for the night the wind switched directions and began blowing the rain away from the building. What had been a racket as the water pounded on the covered porch outside and battered the roof turned into a far away sound of static as it pummeled the opposite side of the roof and poured from the gutters. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed again, and there was a loud crack as one of the gutters finally broke. Captain Ukitake simply snuffed his lantern and rolled over, his damp hair clumping and falling into his face.

-/-

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-/-

The aftermath of the storm could only be described as chaos. The 13th Division's gardens were ripped to shreds, leaves and branches everywhere and bare twigs left in their stead. Entire flower beds were gone, washed away in the night, and what had once been the multiple Rhododendron bushes outside of the 3rd Seat's office was now a wasteland of ripped flowers and waxy leaves, scattered among broken branches and splintered stumps. Two of the barracks had sprung massive leaks in the ceiling, and washing tubs had been requisitioned multiple times during the night to keep up with the flow of water. There were broken windows everywhere, the slats of more than half the shutters of the Division's buildings scattered about the courtyards and gardens. Also, true to Lenalee's prediction, Ugendo's floor was under about five inches of water.

Despite the extent of the damage, that was only the 13th Division. The 2nd Division had managed to lose a good portion of its roof to a fire that started due to a lightning strike and had grown too fast for the torrential downpour to quench effectively. A tree had fallen on a building in the 6th Division and a piece of lawn furniture had punched through a shoji door in the 3rd Division and nearly killed someone. The 11th was making the best of the giant mud pit that their training grounds had turned into, though, and they didn't seem too concerned that a good portion of their roof tiles were missing or that a giant ceramic carp was sticking out of the ground in front of their main building in about four large pieces. However, their Captain was in the 4th Division after having been struck by lightning while he was holding his sword above his head.

In addition to the largest bits of damage, there were also smaller damages to every Division. Trees through roofs were one thing, but missing roof tiles, broken windows and destroyed window shutters were easily fixable. Already there were people out and about with orders, pushing wheelbarrows as they picked up debris and did official damage surveys. The trio of guys that usually did the aesthetic part of the gardening in the 13th were wailing and bemoaning the destruction of their beautiful landscaping and pruning, one of them holding a waterlogged Iris bulb and the other what was left of one of the Rhododendrons as though they were their dead children. Having spent most of their time on the landscaping, their grief was perfectly justified. Unfortunately they were doing their wailing outside of the Captain's office, and Lenalee fully intended to let him sleep until at least noon, so she ushered them away with calming words and plenty of smiles.

In each Division the sounds of cleaning rose into the sunny and bright morning. Steam rose from the ground as the sun warmed it, promising that the day would be both hot and horribly humid in the worst of ways. By nine in the morning people already had their sleeves rolled up and tied back, bandannas tied around their heads that were glistening with sweat. There was plenty of water to warm out of the ground, though, since the 12th was giving out numbers in the range of fourteen inches of rainfall if not more during the storm. But beyond the total thrashing of the gardens and most of the training grounds being lakes due to the drains being stopped up with debris, the 13th Division was relatively unscathed. Her short skirt hiked up farther than usual to expose nearly all of what was left of her long legs, Lenalee waded out into the middle of the third training ground and around a family of ducks and a Blue Heron to roll up her sleeves as far as they would go and reach into the water to pick up the cap of woodchips and broken window slats that was blocking the drain down to the sewers. As soon as she did so a powerful suction took over, nearly knocking her off her feet as the water drained quickly and efficiently from the training area. With the water gone she toed open the grate and dumped the detritus in, closing it behind the mess and to somewhat block out the sound of an absolute torrent below.

Gratefully, she accepted a towel for her legs and arms from an unseated member of the division. The woman had an entire laundry basket full of them, and she was giving them out to people as they needed them. With her job done the Vice-Captain pulled her skirt back down and smoothed out her obi, checking the bow in back and the pin she kept attached to the front just left of center. The silver pin was cross shaped with a series of bead strings hanging from it, and it clinked every now and then while she walked. As the young girl headed towards the division, she hopped on one foot and then the other to pull off one shoe and then the other, emptying them of water before repeating the process to put them back on. She stopped short as two men ran in front of her shouting apologies, a long board held between them with a basket hanging from the middle of it. As she rounded the side of the main Division building, she caught sight of the large debris pile in the main courtyard. It was massive, full of waterlogged garden detritus and broken pieces of building. Much like the 11th Division, one of the decorative carp from the end of the roof had fallen and broken on the tiles, leaving a massive dent in the ground and broken tiles everywhere.

"Vice-Captain!" Lenalee whirled around to face the 17th Seat, an older woman with blueish gray hair and one large earring in her left ear. She put her hands on her knees and leaned forward to catch her breath as she stopped short, taking a moment. "The big grate down to the sewer system is rusted shut. We're a little hesitant to use a Hado on it, but regular prying won't open it." The woman straightened to her full height, only coming up to the younger girl's shoulder in her advancing years. "Any suggestions?"

"Start small, maybe going from Hado #1 and continuing upwards. If anything, repeated uses should-" the Vice-Captain paused, tilting her head to the side as she focused on something behind the woman's head. The 17th Seat turned just in time to duck under a Hell Butterfly that fluttered past with no regard for anyone's personal space, choosing to alight on the tip of Lenalee's nose instead of on her proffered finger. She giggled at the feeling of small butterfly feet on her skin, her eyes crossing to look the little insect as well as she could in its compound eyes. "Oh really?" She asked, after it had relayed its message to her. It fluttered once and then the Vice-Captain looked thoughtful, before adopting a slightly sour look and blowing a little air up her face to dislodge the insect. The Hell Butterfly flipped and twirled away from her, trailing a small trail of sparkles as it went.

"Is everything alright?" The 17th Seat asked, and Lenalee smiled at the woman in a way that didn't seem forced but seemed to be missing something.

"17th Seat Toeto, can you find 3rd Seat Saiho and tell him that he's in charge of clean-up directing until Captain Ukitake is awake and present? I have to go wake him up." Before Toeto could protest the Vice-Captain had taken off into the ruined gardens, taking the slightly longer but much more easily accessed route around the side of the building to the garden courtyard outside of the Captain's office. There were people everywhere inside the Division's hallways, clogging every access point with ladders and baskets full of towels. Instead of ducking those ladders and squeezing around countless baskets, Lenalee took a running leap to clear a new window frame being carried by two men and then slid neatly underneath a low-hanging broken branch without brushing the ground with her uniform.

Upon first inspection, the damage to the back garden was simply horrible. The Summer Snowflake beds that ringed the walls were stripped of most of their flowers, the petals littering the muddy ground of what had at one point been a small rock garden. The rocks were all ringing the drain to the sewers in the corner of the courtyard, however, and a small lake had formed around them. But after a moment of looking, one could see that the damage wasn't as bad back here as it could have been. The weeping willow in the corner looked mostly unscathed and the grass was a shining green where it hadn't been washed away by the rivers that had poured from the broken gutters. Lenalee kicked a length of broken gutter out of the way, wincing as the rest of the screws holding it to the edge of the roof came loose and the rest of the misshapen gutter fell to the ground with a huge amount of noise. She jumped the steps up onto the covered porch and noted that the pair of waraji her Captain had hung from the rafters the day before were gone, probably at the bottom of the small lake in the corner of the courtyard by now.

Hesitantly, the young girl knocked at her Captain's office doors. When there was no answer she didn't worry, but after pressing her ear to the paper door and hearing absolutely nothing, not even a snore, she began to fret. She carefully kicked off her shoes and tried the door, finding it to be impossible to open. With a start that quickly turned to light annoyance, she reached out with her senses and discovered that there had, in fact, been a Bakudo placed on the doors. If her Captain had done what she thought he had done, the same spell had been placed on the walls and the inside door. Nanao may have fiercely denied it, saying that she would much rather have a Captain that did his work and didn't shirk duties, but the fact of the matter was that Juushiro Ukitake and Shunsui Kyouraku were far more alike than you would guess at first glance. If her Captain wanted to sleep, Lenalee mused as she worked along the edges of the Bakudo with her senses looking for the right place to apply Reiatsu to overpower it, he would go to great lengths to achieve that sleep.

With the right place found, the Vice-Captain applied a burst of Reiatsu to the door. A burst of power blew her pigtails out behind her and her bangs up and out of her face, the barrier breaking in a very theatrical manner as a thousand pieces of shining rainbow Kido burst out across the porch to fade into nothing. The barrier broken, Lenalee slid open the office doors and entered onto the tatami flooring. She smiled at the sight of her Captain splayed across the floor, a snuffed lamp sitting with arm's reach. His blanket was tangled around his legs and his hair was reaching out like a hungry octopus. The white strands looked as though they had already swallowed the pillow and were now trying to swallow both the flooring and the face they belonged to. Quietly, Lenalee knelt next to her Captain's side and gently nudged his side. He grumbled and shifted, but otherwise didn't move. It wasn't very often that the younger girl had to wake her Captain up, but when she did it was always an adventure. The cartoon carp print of his sleeping yukata was enough to make her smile and giggle, and she nudged him in the side again using both hands. This time he grumbled and moved his head, one eye opening just a smidgen to see who was trying to wake him.

"Sir, you need to get up." Lenalee's tone was gentle and motherly, and she smiled widely as her Captain grumbled audibly about not wanting to get up and rolled over onto his side. "You have a Division to run, sir, and 3rd Seat Saiho can't do it all day." At this Captain Ukitake rolled back over and sat up, his hair sticking up in odd places and his clothes all in disarray. He put a hand to his forehead, blinking owlishly as he cleared the sleep from his eyes.

"Why can't you do it?" He asked, genuinely curious. Usually Lenalee was perfectly capable of running the Division for days at a time if he got sick or needed to take leave, so it wasn't very often that she deferred to him for leadership decisions or chain of command. More often than not, within the Division she was the head of the chain for long stretches of time.

"Myself, 3rd Seat Rikichi of the 3rd Division and a team of unseated officers from the 4th and 7th Divisions have been assigned a mission to the forest that spans a good portion of 78th District of Eastern Rukongai. The Onmitsukido has discovered the location of the creature that has been killing the Hollows that occasionally find their way into Rukongai and we're being dispatched to deal with it. If it's a threat to the Seiretei we're authorized to use full force on the creature, and if it's a spirit being of some kind we're instructed to leave it be unless it makes a hostile move." Ukitake looked uneasy at that, a hand coming up to smooth out his long white hair as he mulled over the information. "I'll be alright, sir." Lenalee reassured, her smile lighting up her features.

"Be careful." She blinked widely at the steel edge to her Captain's voice, never having heard it quite like that before. This wasn't the tone he usually gave orders in, not jovial or absolutely dead serious with maybe a bit of wiggle room. This wasn't anger like the time he had confronted Captain Kurotsuchi over the continued abuse he inflicted on his daughter, or the time he reprimanded Captains Kurosaki and Zaraki for tearing a swathe of destruction right through one wall of Ugendo and out the opposite one. This was an order that was not to be, under any circumstances, ignored or wiggled out of. "Be careful and come back alive."

"Sir, I…" Lenalee trailed off, unsure how to respond to something like that. But finally she nodded, getting to her feet in a rush of unfolding limbs and the scratch of fabric on fabric. "Yes sir." She finally said, coming to attention before bowing deeply and leaving the office. As she left she closed the shoji door behind her, and the click of the doors coming together sounded a little too final for Captain Ukitake.

-/-

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**I promise I won't kill her. Seriously. Why on Earth would I do that? That would hurt Captain Ukitake, what with his track record with Vice-Captains ;_;**

**Also, this is totally the longest chapter I think I've ever written for like anything in almost five years. The better part of nine pages, yeesh! I just couldn't stop writing!**

**Next chapter will be another Turn Back the Time Record chapter, so look out for that if you're still reading this! It should deal with Lenalee's time in Rukongai and her discovery by the Seiretei and subsequent induction into the Academy. **

**That storm was really fun to write and I totally didn't write random romantic scenes and then backspace over them. I usually have that urge when writing low-lighting scenes at three in the morning, but for some reason I abstained for this chapter. Probably because I'm not totally nutters lol**

**LCR, sayin' peace OUT, yo! 'Til next time!**


	4. Night 4: Turn Back the Time Record 2

**Back in Black**

_Lt. Commander Richie_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own either Bleach or D Gray-man. Eyup.

**A/N: **I love this idea so much. Unfortunately it was born of writer's block. But still, it's a great idea in my opinion~ The adventures of Lenalee in Soul Society, should she be dead and in possession of a dual zanpakuto! Yeah!

_Night 4: Turn Back the Time Record Part 2

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_

_-/-  
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It took six months for the bruises on Lenalee's legs to fully fade, and a full year for the claw-like cuts to fully heal. By the time she could walk she was running everywhere, be it four streets over to get something from a friend of Noboko's or all the way to the 15th District on an errand. The yukata she had woken up in was quickly ruined, being nothing much but a flimsy piece of junk held together with a few haphazard stitches. She borrowed one from a neighbor girl half her size until she could afford to buy one that fit her, doing chores and carrying groceries for the elderly population of the area she lived in. Noboko refused to put her out on the street, first citing that she needed someone to reach higher rafters with the dust rag and then citing that her arthritis simply would allow her to hold knives or stir pots of stew. The two of them slowed into a routine, full of laughter and contentment as they were happy to just live their afterlife.

As the months wore on, Noboko relayed to the younger girl everything she knew about the Seiretei. As it was, she had served as a shinigami for a time. As she grew old, however, she had garnered herself a distinguished enough record that she could apply for an active retirement. That, she explained, was the best you could do to get out of the life of a shinigami. If your service record was distinguished enough you could retire and no longer have to report for duty, but under certain circumstances she could potentially be pulled back into service. But, she said at one point, there was no way that anyone in their right mind would want a frail old arthritic woman trying to kill Hollows. She had passed the point where the Seiretei could sanely pull her into service, and as such she was free to live out what was left of her afterlife in the relative peace of the 23rd District.

Every evening, the two women would sit on the front stoop or in the small back garden, and a new lesson about the Seiretei would begin. Lenalee absorbed everything like a sponge, fascinated and fixated as though she couldn't get enough. Stories and regulations, rules and paperwork, missions and Hollows, they all seemed to fit in her mind where something else had once been. Whatever that something had been, it wasn't that different from the institution of the shinigami. Sometimes, when Noboko would fumble for words or forget where she was heading with a story or tangent, Lenalee would finish the rule in a vernacular that wasn't too far from the truth. After a while that began to fade, however, and just like the old woman had said her memories of the people she knew and the things she had experienced in life began to fade.

One day, six months after waking up in the middle of the street, Lenalee picked up a board and a burnt stick from the fire pit and began to draw. What began as stick figures turned into people slowly but surely, exposing a boy with an eyepatch and a woman with dark circles ringing her eyes. She turned the board over and the faces of a man with a ponytail and a boy with a scar began to form, but weren't quite as finished and polished as the other two because she ran out of stick to draw with. As she was rooting around in the charcoal for another piece that she could draw with she managed to smudge the boy with the scar, and no matter how much she tried to fix it afterwords it never seemed to look quite right to her.

Slowly, over the next few months, the house began to fill with scraps of paper and flat rocks with drawings on them. If she was going to forget the people she had known, Lenalee reasoned at one point with Noboko, she may as well record what they looked like so that she would always know even if she didn't. The statement didn't make the most sense, but the meaning got across well enough. In addition to the faces adorning every flat surface she could root out and scribble on, a long piece of parchment she kept folded on her person at all times held the scrawled names she knew but couldn't place. They were all written in English, and her handwriting in the foreign language was impeccable. But for the life of her she couldn't associate the names to the faces, and in a way it tore her up a little on the inside.

Before she knew it a year had passed, full of learning and experiences like she never could have imagined. To the little old ladies that lived in the area she found herself living in, she was their pride and joy. They loved her like a daughter or a granddaughter, and like family she was welcome everywhere. The entire community was one big family, and she was another link in the chain that held them all together. The street kids called her their big sister, and the restaurant owners at the end of the street in the direction of 22nd District called her their daughter. She had an open invitation to free food whenever she asked, but couldn't bring herself to make good on the offer without at least cleaning the windows or wiping off the tables.

A year and three months after waking up in the middle of the street, however, the dreams began. She was no stranger to waking up gasping for air, feeling the wet silt of the ocean floor below her and only a green glow surrounding her for light. Nor was she a stranger to the feeling of an immense weight, pulling at her legs and pushing on her shoulders as she fell through air and fire in a twirling inferno of heat and determination. Those dreams she woke from slowly, tears in her eyes and a feeling like something was missing from her heart present for days afterwords. But the new dreams were different, tinted strange colors and full of despair.

It began with a whisper, more silent than the grave and oppressive in its unwillingness to compromise. She would move, but no sound would come of her shifting against the rocks she sat on. If she moved, her hair would make no sound. In an effort to hear even the beating of the blood in her head, she held her palms to her ears and pressed to no avail. Everything was completely silent, moreso than the grave. The sky was a reddish-pink hue, fading orange at the edges like a photo negative of a bright blue cloudless day. The few clouds present were colored black, fading up into gray at the edges; the moon mirrored this coloring perfectly even as it grinned down at her. Below the rocks she sat on was a sea of water, ringed by buildings that were no more than bits of ruined rubble. It was completely still, like a pane of glass that reflected everything above it. If she looked hard enough at the surface of the water, the images there began to warp into things that made her look away. The first time Lenalee dreamed that dream, she screamed so loud as she woke that people from three different neighboring houses rushed to the front door with weapons demanding to know if everyone was alright.

The second dream came a week later, and she had nearly forgotten about the first one by the time she saw that negative sky and the pool below her. Again she couldn't hear, and again she screamed, but this time there was a whisper as she frantically tried to restore her basic senses. She stilled as the whisper came again, but making it out was like trying to see and hear through cotton. In her struggle she knocked a rock loose from the rubble she sat on, and it fell down before bouncing off of another piece of rubble and then into the pool. In that split second she wished fervently for a ripple, but the rock simply disappeared into nothingness without even so much as a splash. When she looked back up she was confronted by a winged shape that made her jerk back so fast that she overbalanced and fell backwards into open air. She made no sound as she screamed, falling swiftly towards the pool of nothingness. Again she woke up screaming, this time flailing as well before bursting into tears and gathering her legs up to her chest. Noboko worked at calming her down for hours, making cup after cup of tea as she tried to coax details from the girl.

The coming months saw an increase in the shinigami presence in Rukongai as a nest of Hollows was rooted out, but at the same time they seemed to be searching for something. More than once a week Noboko would look up at the ceiling in disgust and shake her head, muttering about seated officers that couldn't seem to keep their Reiatsu in check. Every time she did so Lenalee could feel the power radiating from the person or people on the roof, tinting the air with different flavors of electricity. Once, two people stopped on a roof three streets away and still she could taste the power in the air. The sensation was absolutely exhilarating, and it would always make the young girl upbeat and fascinated with the shinigami as they milled about in the streets. Occasionally she would take them food if they stayed in one place long enough to call it a post, and she came back from those excursions with a spring in her step and a happy glint in her eye.

Towards the end of summer the shinigami presence in Northern Rukongai's 23rd District began to fade. Afterwards she couldn't recall for the life of her why she did it, but as the sun began to set one day in August Lenalee pulled herself up onto the tile roof of the house and settled herself next to the attic window to watch the sun set over the Seiretei. The light was just beginning to disappear behind the Sokyoku hill as she pulled the silver cross with her name on it from the front fold of her yukata, and she held it up to make a perfect silhouette in the dying light. Before she knew it she had curled up into a corner between the roof and the attic window and was nodding off in the last dregs of daylight.

The red sky was just as deathly silent as it had been in every other dream, not even a wind whipping through the ruins of some old yellowing building that jutted from the water without leaving a ripple. The black moon, its grin looking sinister in its color scheme, stared down at her as though it expected her to do something. Lenalee couldn't stand the lack of sound in this dream, but as it had continued she had learned to bear it to the point that she no longer tried to scream. This time, though, it seemed as though the world had shifted. In her immediate line of vision was a massive arch, and the water seemed much closer than it had ever been before. Her entire view of the world was misplaced, and for a moment she wondered if she wasn't slowly going mad. Blinking and not expecting any sound, she looked down at the surface of the still water and wasn't disappointed. She stood at the top of a staircase, utterly ruined in massive patches as though bombs had taken bites out of the stone. Without so much as a whisper the girl whipped her head around to look up at the top of the arch, realizing that that was where she usually sat. A wind whipped around her as she did so, the first she had ever felt in the photo-negative world, and it pulled at her pigtails without disturbing the water in the slightest.

Where she usually sat was a creature, crouched like a harpy but missing its head. It was black in color, reflecting the red light of the sky in a sinister fashion as it twitched like it was looking at her. The creature's movements were slow and deliberate, and Lenalee watched with a growing sense of dread as the creature unfolded its wings at an agonizing pace to expose the body of a woman tapering down into a snake-like tail. The form had no arms, the shoulders instead tapering into the stone-like black wings that slowly flapped back and forth like a waiting angel. Whatever it was, though, it was no angel; if anything the creature was a demon, grotesque with its impossibly long headless neck and stony appearance. The girl blinked and stumbled backwards, as the creature was suddenly looming into her face with its headless stump of a neck in the space of time it took to open and close her eyes. But she didn't scream, not initially, opting instead to take several halting steps backwards with her eyes fixed unblinking on the sinister-looking black winged figure.

She did try to scream as she took another step backwards and met only air with her foot, no sound issuing forth from her mouth as she did so. She grasped futilely at the air, the stone ruins quickly being replaced by the negative sky and black clouds. Gravity pulled at her, beckoning her towards the stairs and ultimately into the still black water, until a sensation set in that nearly made the young girl throw up. Gravity suddenly decided to go sideways, the entire world orienting itself strangely as Lenalee hit the stone staircase hard on her back. Despite the entire world now being on its side, however, nothing seemed to change. The water was still a sheet of glass, reflecting the black moon and clouds on a red and orange background that the unfortunate girl had learned to tolerate. Rubbing her head, Lenalee got to her feet and turned to look at the water she had nearly fallen into. Her warped reflection shone back at her, the edges fuzzy and gray and her eyes nothing but pits of darkness. Her black yukata with red butterflies on it reflected as a gray swirling pattern, stripes of green intermixed with it.

_We will never hurt you._ Lenalee spun around screaming at the voice, as used to the silence as she had become, her arm outstretched in an attack. The back of her hand came in contact with the black creature with the wings, and she immediately shrunk away from it. Still it came closer, its wings reaching out to ring her in before pulling the hapless girl into what could almost be considered an embrace. It was strangely warm, as though it was made of a living black stone, and its headless neck nuzzled against her own. _We love you so much._ She stiffened at those words, the voice speaking them an ethereal one that echoed around the ruins and more than likely around her mind. It held kindness and warmth that she refused to believe, opting instead to shove the black thing away and turn back towards the glassy water. Her reflection in it was still the frightening image of grayness, pit-like eyes boring into her with a horrible insistence. But behind her was the reflection of the creature, shining red with the light of the sky and feathered with stone. As she watched it began to warp and twist in the water, graying at the edges as well and becoming a dark pattern of swirls that seemed to finally grow a head. Lenalee spun back to face it again, but the creature still stood like a headless statue behind her.

_I'm sorry I frighten you. It's not my intention and it hurts me to see you so afraid._ Slowly, finding herself getting used to the sound of a voice in the otherwise completely muted world, the young girl turned. Behind her nightmarish reflection stood the graying, swirling reflection of a figure in black with curling white hair and a ribbon tied around its neck that reached nearly to its feet. It had no hands and no arms, but the wings present on the statue-like thing behind her weren't present either. She opened her mouth to ask a question, her reflection's mouth opening all the way across her face in a horrific display of impossibility. As she spoke no sound came forth, but her lips moved all the same and she stood transfixed by the unsettling mockery her reflection continued to do.

_Your reflection is just the work of the pool, nothing more and nothing less. _Lenalee, and subsequently her gray and swirling reflection, reached forward. When she touched the surface of the water with her palm it rippled, but only one ripple formed and spread in a perfect circle outwards. When it impacted the ruins it didn't bounce back out, instead simply fading out of existence as though it had never been there to begin with. But as the circle spread outwards the perfect reflection of the sky disappeared, replaced instead with a vision of bright and glowing green crystals growing from rocks and making the water sparkle like a beautiful cavern. The graying reflection, its black pit eyes unblinking, withdrew its hand from the water and beckoned the bemused physical girl forward. Lenalee's purple eyes shot to the reflection of the creature behind her, and just barely caught the nod its curly head gave before she took a deep breath and walked forward into her own reflection.

The sensation of floating surrounded her, and Lenalee opened her eyes to be faced with a fluttering green butterfly. It fluttered once and turned, bubbles rising from its wings as it drifted lazily to one of the green crystals that lit the water so well. Lenalee could feel her pigtails float up above her head, suspended completely in the crystal clear water as she was. She kicked her feet to stay at a constant depth and the black shoes she wore dissolved into a cloud of murk, lazily twirling around her in the water before coalescing into the reflection of the black creature. It sat perched on one of the crystals, the green glow turning its curling hair a minty shade. Towards the end of the reflection's legs the body began to dissolve, no feet at all visible. With that missing area the ribbon around its neck also dissolved, giving the impression that it was being slowly erased. One crystal butterfly, then another, and then several more, began to alight in the curling hair of the reflection like large ornaments.

Thinking nothing of it, Lenalee opened her mouth to speak. Bubbles forced their way out as she spoke, but no water entered her lungs as she breathed. Her lips moved but no sound came out, her lips curving around bubbles instead that rose and disappeared like jellyfish. One of the butterflies, in answer, seemed to nod. With her answer in hand the dreaming girl began moving as though she was walking. Her going was slow and her yukata flowed out around her like a shroud, but walking became significantly easier as she continued towards the crystals where the reflection perched. As she reached them she put a hand forward, the green glow painting her pale skin a sickly shade; her fingers touched cool crystal for barely an instant before a spark jumped through the water and the crystal exploded into a thousand of the green butterflies.

The continued beating of wings stirred the water to such fervor that the reflection began to dissolve. The butterflies in its hair jumped away and into their flock, adding to the churning with the beating of their own crystalline wings. The water became murky as the silt her shoes had become spread around on the wing beats of the crystalline insects, everything tinting gray through the substance.

_Never fear anything._ The voice of the reflection had an echo this time, distinctly male and not unlike the crushing of a fine crystal to dust. It was like sand underfoot on a hard surface, or a wheel on gravel, completely at odds with the beautiful scene of a thousand butterflies churning the water and casting green sparkles into the liquid with every beat. They made no sound, but if they had it would have been the sound of a chandelier breaking into a thousand pieces a thousand times over. _We will always protect you. _Heeding the words, Lenalee reached out once again and snagged a butterfly in her hand. It flapped its wings lazily in her palm, before stilling completely and dissolving into the sparkles that now permeated the water like mud. In the green glow of the water the girl blinked at the world, and it was gone.

"You're awake." Startled, Lenalee screamed and lost her footing on the tile roof. She slid several feet before stopping short, a firm hand latched around the back of the collar of her yukata. She craned her head back; purple eyes open wide, to come face-to-upside-down face with a man in a shinigami uniform. He had the beginnings of an afro and large eyebrows, a smile spreading across his face as he pulled Lenalee to her feet and let her go. She got her footing on the roof and blinked quizzically at him, forgetting for a moment that she could make sounds.

"Can I help you?" She finally asked, looking up at the shinigami. He was both taller than her and had taken higher ground on the roof, making him harder to look in the eyes.

"I've been looking for you, kid." The shinigami finally said, thumbing his large nose and looking off to the right like he was trying to make himself seem more important. "You've got a hell of a lot of Reiryoku for someone your age, and with that much potential it'd be a shame to waste it!" Lenalee had the grace to look confused, toying with the short hem of her yukata with her idle fingers.

"How much?" She asked, and it was the shinigami's turn to look confused.

"You're not gonna ask what Reiryoku is?" Her pigtails waving behind her, Lenalee shook her head and politely waited for the man to continue. He looked a little stumped for a moment before he began counting on his fingers, scratching his small afro with his free hand. "You've got the potential to test into a single-digit officer's seat right outta the Academy, kid. Old Lady Yugodo said you've been dreaming about monsters, too, so you could very well be on your way to gettin' the name of your zanpakuto."

"Dark Boots," Lenalee said firmly, looking down at the black metal shoes she wore. They flexed with her feet as she stood up on tiptoe and then settled back down, unlike any metal she had ever used or seen before.

"Pardon?" The shinigami looked from her face down to her shoes, then back up again with a nonplussed expression coloring his face. "Dark Boots?"

"They call themselves Dark Boots! I have no idea what they do, though." The shinigami blinked at her, disbelief written in his eyes and the creases in his forehead. Slowly, though, the use of the plural filtered through one of his ears and out the other and managed to register. With a splutter of an excuse he was gone in a flash, only the overpowering smell of his rank cologne left to mark where he had stood.

-/-

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The only thing Lenalee did not enjoy about the Academy, under any circumstances, was the uniform. Before her induction into the student body she had never worn hakama, opting instead to only wear her short yukata with fundoshi underneath and her breasts bound with another roll of white linen. But now she had to wear pants and two layers of shirt, a red juban that matched her hakama and a white kosode over that. All the folding and understanding which went where nearly got her in trouble the first day of classes after she had given up and appeared in just the kosode with no hakama in sight. She had been swiftly pulled aside by a female instructor and dressed properly; her black shoes nearly confiscated before another instructor stepped in and explained that those were in fact the girl's zanpakuto.

Her roommate was a disaster of a girl, proficient only in very basic Kido and the easiest of sword uses. Together the two of them made a perfect pair, Lenalee needing someone to mother hen over and Sayako Katori needing someone to motivate her forward. The mousy woman had a surprising knack for solving equations and logical reasoning, but it was that very logical reasoning that trapped her into a loop of self-depreciative loathing. Unfortunately Lenalee had been exempted from swordsmanship classes due to extenuating circumstances, and she couldn't help her roommate there. But together the two girls rose to the top of the grade charts in every Kido course they were placed into.

Between classes in a double-block of Kido courses, Lenalee was running from one end of the campus to the other with half a dozen large books in her arms. She rounded a corner and her foot caught on someone's leg, sending her flying and twirling in a rather graceful front flip before she hit the ground on her back and those half-dozen books narrowly avoided hitting her head. As it was one of them smacked her right on the crown of her head, knocking both of her pigtails askew in the gold ties she had received from Noboko when she had first gone off to the academy. The girl laid there for a moment, dazed, the sunny sky above her without a single cloud in sight.

"You okay?" A man asked, and Lenalee craned her neck back to see who had spoken. Only a straw hat came into her range of vision, and she brought both hands to her head to adjust her pigtails as she sat up and turned around. What appeared to be a large pink lump was situated just on the inside of the corner of the building, its legs stretched across the walkway in a seriously dangerous manner. "Looks like you tried to use my legs as a springboard there, kid. Not really a good idea." Since the man wasn't shouting in pain or threatening her, Lenalee got to her feet and dusted herself off before bending down to pick up her books. One large hand reached out of the pink lump, picking up a particularly large book and flipping it open to a later chapter. "You don't look old enough to be in a Kido class this high."

"We haven't reached those chapters yet, sir." Lenalee held out a hand for the book and received it with a smile, adding it to the pile she held in her arms. To her surprise the lump stood, revealing a rather physically imposing man with an open uniform and a bright blue sash tied around his waist. The most surprising part that nearly made her drop her books was the white haori the man wore under the large pink furisode he draped over his shoulders like a cape. Hastily, Lenalee bowed low and nearly shouted her apology in her haste.

"It's alright, no harm no foul." The Captain patted her on the head, right between her askew pigtails, and smiled a rather wide smile. The young girl blinked owlishly at the rather frumpy-looking Captain, confused as she realized just where they were standing.

"Sir, what are you doing in the Academy?" The Captain laughed outright at that, his voice booming and warm as he tipped his hat back with his knuckles and looked out at the training field the walkway ringed.

"Nostalgia, mostly. I remember when this training field was laid out." Lenalee, surprised, looked out at the well-worn and frankly quite ancient training field with curious eyes. "But I'm actually hiding from my Vice-Captain. You won't tell, will you little Lena?" The girl shook her head vigorously, and then squeaked in alarm as the bell began to ring. She was off like a shot, her pigtails streaming out behind her as she turned a corner and was gone. It didn't occur to her until after she fumbled for an excuse as to why she was late to her advanced Kido class that she had never told the Captain her name.

-/-

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**I love writing Shunsui. I love writing Shunsui and I love writing Lenalee and I love writing Ukitake and Nanao and Nemu and Hitsugaya and Matsumoto and everyone I've written so far and this chapter is crap oh geez. I hate it so much. At least next chapter will be all on-track with actual plot kinda sorta, which ought to be much better than these shitty Turn Back the Time Record chapters. I mean seriously this chapter is shit but I don't know how else to write it. **

**I like that I'm writing like 10-page chapters, though, because it makes me feel really awesome and like I'm doing something or something like that. Man, if I keep up at this pace of like a ten page or slightly less chapter every day I might just be able to finish writing this in two weeks and start publishing on a schedule that won't try to kill me from the inside out. **

**I'm expecting at least fifteen chapters out of this. We'll just have to wait and see amirite or amirite? I probably just went and put a gorram jinx on myself, but at this point if I don't finish this I'll be kinda surprised. **

**So yeah, Lt. Commander Richie has left the building. I live on reviews. Tell me how much this chapter sucked. **


	5. Night 5: Friends Ain't Always WITH US

**Back in Black**

_Lt. Commander Richie_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own either Bleach or D Gray-man. Eyup.

**A/N: **I love this idea so much. Unfortunately it was born of writer's block. But still, it's a great idea in my opinion~ The adventures of Lenalee in Soul Society, should she be dead and in possession of a dual zanpakuto! Yeah!

_Night 5: Friends Ain't Always WITH US

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Shunpo out to the 78th District of Eastern Rukongai usually took minutes if you did it fast enough, seconds if you were a master to the extent that Captain Kuchiki and Captain Soifon were. Skirting across wooden rooftops was exhilarating in the early morning light, ducking between shafts of steam and sunlight like a high-speed game of chase. But because the 4th Division members of the team Lenalee led were most definitely not Shunpo masters the trip took the better part of an hour to complete. Silently, the Vice-Captain was screaming inside. She longed to jump and spin and cover all five hundred Spirit Miles in a split second, the feeling of regular Shunpo from rooftop to rooftop simply not enough for her. With a cry a particularly unsure member of the 4th Division aid team she was in temporary command of took a header off the edge of a building and into the water trough of a horse. The horse, unconcerned with the new shinigami flavor to its water, began nibbling on the unfortunate man's head.

In a flash Lenalee was leading the horse away and helping the man from the trough, dealing with the unfortunate side effects of his sopping wet clothes as he continuously bowed to her in thanks. Ever-eager and rearing to go, 3rd Seat Rikichi and the members of the 7th Division that had also been assigned to her care called for them to hurry up. A few children on the street echoed the sentiment in mocking tones, one or two of them throwing sticks at the 4th Division members. Cowed, they Shunpoed several buildings ahead and then continued onwards. Lenalee followed them with the unfortunate sopping man she had helped out of the trough, and the patchwork squadron was on its way once again.

"Keep your eyes peeled for the path to the old Forest Spirit temple!" As the edge of the 78th District forest came into view, Lenalee took control and began barking orders. The old temple had been abandoned in favor of a newer and less likely to collapse temple that had been erected closer to the edge of the forest. The path to the old temple, as such, was overgrown with weeds and branches that enjoyed snagging at uniforms and clothes. It was finally located after half an hour's worth of searching the forest edge, several very small and brash Hollows that were attracted by the smell of high Reiatsu dispatched in the process. As each of the masked creatures was dispatched Lenalee made a note of them and their power level, growing more concerned every time a new one slithered from the grass or fell from the trees. Something was attracting the small Hollows, and they needed to be dealt with before something more like a Menos Grande decided to rear its ugly head.

The path was easy to clear of its brambles, some well-placed Hado spells disintegrating the vegetation as it tried to snag at clothes and hair. But as the squadron advanced further into the forest it became thicker and much harder to destroy. Eventually the temple gate came into view, completely overgrown with vines that looked like they had once been wisteria. Without flowers or leaves, however, the crawling and reaching wooden tendrils looked more like grasping claws that tore at the peeling paint than part of nature. Several of the 4th Division members of the squadron looked ready to faint, not used to being part of an active squadron.

The darkness of the forest was a worrying aspect to Lenalee, and she took in every route of attack just as she took in every route of escape that her Academy training and applied experience allowed her to. She couldn't fight very well inside the forest, knobby limbs and massive boughs posing risks both to her because of splinters and others because of the collateral damage that would no doubt result should she kick anything. She noted 3rd Seat Rikichi doing the same, the beads in his hair and the impressive tattoos that adorned his exposed arms cutting an imposing figure in the half-darkness. Everyone tensed as something stirred in the underbrush, several members of the 7th Division going for their swords in a variety of movements depending on where they kept them secured. A rabbit poked its head out of a bush and then bolted across the path in front of the assembled shinigami, making some of them visibly relax.

Whatever was in this forest was definitely here, the Onmitsukido had made no mistake about that. About an hour down the trail Lenalee began to taste a foreign Reiatsu in the air every time she breathed, powerfully electric and quietly roiling. She began forging ahead with a newfound fervor, firing off mid-level Hado spells at thick limbs and curtains of vines. Attracting an unknown creature with flares of Reiatsu probably wasn't the most conducive to Captain Ukitake's order to stay alive, but attracting whatever it was so as to subdue it was the main objective in the mission. 3rd Seat Rikichi was more than happy to join her in burning away a path, Hado #33 bursting from his palm in rapid succession each time it was needed. His ability to do the spell without the incantation was impeccable, and his ability never ceased to impress Lenalee as he continued to grow stronger.

Despite the temple no doubt getting closer with every step, the forest continued to grow darker. Soon only small shafts of light shone through the canopy of branches, lighting up random patches of the ground with bright clarity. Lenalee brushed through one such spot and jumped back almost immediately, firing a low-level Hado into the deep grass with little concern for aim. Something screeched in pain and fury, the grass shifting as it scampered off into the undergrowth to nurse its wounds. One of the 7th Division members of the squadron lashed together a makeshift torch from a stick and a good amount of grass, coating it in sap from a tree that had recently been split by lightning. It burned rather well, casting orange light into the darkness of the forest and illuminating shapes in the darkness that didn't seem to want to belong. But there were no distinguishable Reiatsu signatures in the vicinity, save for the ones of the squadron and of the unknown creature.

"Damn," one man muttered, fingers tight around the handle of the nodachi he wore strapped across his back. "This place is way creepy. I'll bet there's all sorts of spirits just waitin' for us to get off the path before they pull our innards out our eyeballs and eat our fingers." Another man from the 7th Division shushed him, smacking the man upside the back of his head with one palm. Suddenly, something screamed in the darkness and swords were unsheathed; those members of the squad without zanpakuto that were viable in a fight muttered Kido incantations under their breath like prayers. Her hands steady, Lenalee took the torch from the man that had made it and swept it around the path to shine light into the blackness. Nothing stirred and nothing attacked, and after a long tense moment swords were sheathed with hesitant clicks.

"We should have found that temple half an hour ago, Vice-Captain Lee." By the light of the torch, Rikichi looked paranoid. His hand was at the hilt of his zanpakuto, and his eyes shifted nervously around the dark forest. Above them, a crow screeched before taking off in a flurry of black wings. "I don't like this one bit."

"It's just been slow going, Rikichi. We'll get there soon!" Lenalee's smile was a little strained-looking in the darkness, but it seemed to only be a trick of the light. "And I keep telling you to call me Lenalee, you never listen!"

"No ma'am, I don't." The tattooed 3rd Seat wore a cheeky grin as he spoke, turning to forge further ahead and promptly tripping over a very large root. With a sharp yell of surprise he fell head-first into a large patch of ivy-encrusted ground. The waxy leaves swallowed him up for a moment, rustling as he struggled against the vines he had become tangled with. He flailed for a moment before Lenalee reached down and pulled at the back of his shihakusho, forcing him to stand up in the barely shin-deep plants. As the embarrassed 3rd Seat dusted himself off and pulled creeping ivy vines from his hair and clothes, a 4th Division member chanted the incantation for Bakudo #14. A sudden burst of bright white light nearly blinded several squad members before they looked away, and the older woman that had cast the Sunlight Palms spell pushed her way through the group and held her hands up to illuminate the area. Lenalee handed the torch back to the 7th Division man she had borrowed it from, stepping forward with a look of awe on her face.

The forest opened up into a field of massive roots, encased in ivy in a massively thick layer and hanging from the trees with alarming quantity. The roots radiated outward from a tree that looked to be about a thousand or so years old, reaching up above the canopy so far that the light from the rather expertly-cast Bakudo #14 didn't even reach that far. The wind caught the branches and the leaves began to move, dappled spots of light occasionally finding their way through to the forest floor. From the lowest branches of the tree hung the ropes and paper tags of a temple, swaying back and forth as the whole tree groaned and shook. Lenalee felt a shiver run down her spine at the sight of the massive tree, a tree that had no doubt already been large when Captain-Commander Yamamoto took his position as the head of the Seiretei. Ivy wrapped around it as far as the eye could see into the gloom, hanging from the branches in a natural imitation of the temple ropes that seemed so suited to the forest.

A bang sounded through the clearing, and all eyes whipped towards the base of the massive tree's trunk. There, just visible in the gloom and wrapped up in ivy just like everything else, was the temple. One of its doors was ajar, exposing a dark courtyard where nothing was visible. The unknown Reiatsu that the entire squadron could no doubt feel wrapped around all of them like a cloud of mist. It was everywhere, not so strong that it stifled the breathing of anyone present but strong enough that it could be felt pulsing. The 7th Division members reached for their swords in near unison, a trained group of careful fighters faced with the unknown. 3rd Seat Rikichi withdrew his own zanpakuto from its sheath, the slow hiss of the blade exiting the sheath a horrible sound in the blackness. A whipping sound of steel flashed through the clearing and the torch suddenly went out, beheaded and swallowed up by the ivy in the bright flash of a swinging blade.

Rikichi brought his blade up just in time to block the same sword, the mysterious blade bouncing off of the officer's zanpakuto in a shower of sparks as it attempted to nick at the hands of the 4th Division woman performing the Sunlight Palms spell. In a rustle of the ivy on the ground the attacker was gone again, silence falling on the group for a moment as even the wind stilled.

"Form a defensive position!" Taking charge, Lenalee began to shout orders. Immediately the 7th Division members formed a circle around the 4th Division members, the entire squad tense and rearing for a fight. "Everyone able to do so, cast Bakudo #14. We need some light to see whatever or whoever this is!" Chanting began in earnest as the Vice-Captain crouched low to the ground, her eyes scanning the murky woods with sharp movements as she tried to catch a shadow flickering. She caught sight of a rustling shadow between two of the tree's massive roots just as her squadron burst into a bright white light, illuminating the clearing with the power of a captured sun. Waxy ivy leaves shone in the light of the combined Kido, and Lenalee tracked the flitting movement of the black shadow between each massive root.

"I see it, Vice-Captain!" Rikichi started forward, his sword at the ready, but the black-haired girl held out an arm to stop him. He retreated several steps, still at the ready, but no further. "It's just a bandit, ma'am! I'll take him for you!" Lenalee shook her head slowly, still tracking the movement of the shadowy person as they attempted to move closer to the squad without leaving the darkness. In a sudden movement the Vice-Captain rocked up to the balls of her feet, shifting her weight slightly to provide a better stance for jumping.

"You are the wind in the butterfly's wings; you dance the waltz of the misty morning, Dark Boots." As she whispered the command her boots exploded outward and upwards around her legs. They wrapped soundlessly up her shins and over her knees, forming heels and spiked toes as well as hoops and armor. As an afterthought two gray disks formed, black crosses adorning each like a shield. Rikichi barely had the time to step back before Lenalee pounced, shooting into the air and arcing down gracefully to deliver an axe kick to the ground. The earth exploded into splinters of root and leaves of ivy, dirt flying everywhere as the shadowy figure made a run at the squadron. Using a root as a starting point the figure took to the air, unsheathing a katana with an awkward motion and bringing it down towards the 3rd Seat's head with an inexperienced swing. Rikichi blocked easily and threw the figure off, snagging a piece of the ripped and stained cloak they wore in the process.

The mystery attacker stood once again and made another charge, this time heading straight for the ring of 7th and 4th Division members with a rather clipped pace. But the swings were uneducated, lacking poise and discipline, and were easily fended off. One 7th Division member looked up just in time to shout a warning, and everyone scattered as Lenalee fell from the foliage above and just barely clipped the attacker with one of her boots. Again dirt and ivy exploded everywhere, and she followed her landing up with an impressive roundhouse kick that sent the cloaked figure flying through another root and into the trunk of the massive tree. The black cloak fluttered in a slight updraft, giving the impression of a shadow torn from a deeper place and tacked to the green ivy that blanketed the trunk of the massive tree. The Vice-Captain kicked off the ground and stopped short in the air just above the figure, which was clawing his way out of the surprisingly thick ivy with angry snarls and curses.

"Identify yourself or be charged with assaulting a Vice-Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads." Lenalee's tone was flat as she spoke, hanging upside-down in the air as her boots collected the spirit particles she stood on and reversed the gravity of the spot of solid particles. A horrific glare peered out of the cloak at her, gray and full of a roiling hatred. The figure positively oozed the foreign Reiatsu that she had been sensing for the better part of an hour, leaking it like a faucet much like Captain Kurosaki had when he was still an inexperienced teen. The figure ripped and pulled at the ivy he was tangled in, finally pulling one arm free with the snaps of vines and tearing of leaves. He began pulling at the ivy his left arm was snarled in with frantic motions, not daring to let go of the sword he held there. "I asked you to identify yourself! If you don't I'll use force to detain you!"

"Exorcise, Crown Clown!" The assailant's voice was small and young, belonging to someone that couldn't be physically more than 13 years old. He ripped the ivy from his arm with an alarming ferocity as he yelled the command, bringing his sword up to face-height in a single-handed grip to point down at the ground. Something stirred in Lenalee's mind, like a sense of déjà vu about a sense of déjà vu at the release command, but her sense of self-preservation kicked in as a bright white light flashed in her vision and nearly blinded her. She kicked backwards and alighted on a large tree branch, ready to kick off once again at a second's notice. As the light faded the boy's Reiatsu skyrocketed, becoming less like a mist and more like a cottony feeling that weighed down on everything around. The strength was nowhere the level of a Captain, or even a Vice-Captain, but for a Rukongai kid it was still impressive.

"No way." The Vice-Captain couldn't believe her eyes as the light faded, and her words were no more than breathed in the utter silence of the clearing. Replacing the boy's hand was a black arm, banded with silver in several places and ended with five long and wicked claws instead of fingers. From that burst a furry white mane of long hair, whirling and twisting like it had a mind of its own. The boy's black cloak drifted gently to the ground like a piece of detached shadow, exposing a young and round face with a weak chin and barely-there cheekbones. His black hair contrasted starkly with the white everything of his zanpakuto's release form, and he shook his head to remove some of that hair from his eyes. Without warning the boy jumped at his shinigami opponent with his claws outstretched, just barely nicking the Vice-Captain's face with the blade on his thumb in an impressive display of speed.

Bursting into action, Lenalee spun and caught the boy in the stomach with the flat top of her foot to send him flying back into the tree trunk. She threw herself after him with determination, flipping around in midair as she extended a heel forward to hit him with as much force as she dared. Surprisingly, though, the cloak that trailed out behind the boy's white mane reached out backwards and halted his progression towards the trunk of the massive tree. He reached out his right hand at the same time as he moved aside, barely dodging Lenalee's kick before he grabbed her ankle and twirled her around with her own momentum and threw her up into the branches of the tree. Temporarily stunned at the boy's fast reflexes, the Vice-Captain quickly shook herself out of it and bounced right off of the open air at the kid. He wasn't expecting it, and barely threw his bladed left hand up in time to stop the kick she had aimed for his forehead.

With a savage yell the boy grabbed her foot with his claws and threw her into a nearby branch of the tree. Ivy flew everywhere as she bounced off of the limb and hit another one, but before the leaves had even begun to fall she pushed herself forward with a burst of speed and roundhouse kicked the boy in the side. He went flying at roughly a 45 degree angle, leaving a hole in the dense foliage that sunlight began to shine through. Without a moment's hesitation Lenalee propelled herself out of the hole and into the bright sunlight of the open air. She was immediately tackled from behind, clawed fingers closing around her throat as a bare foot impacted her lower back. But the Vice-Captain stood steadily in the open air, spirit particles collecting under her feet without any conscious thought as she stood her ground. The boy hung on her for a moment before leaning over her shoulder, catching her stony gaze with his angry one.

"What do you want from me?" The boy's voice was dangerously edged, the sharp silver blades of his fingers the only things sharper than his tone. His grip on her neck tightened, the blades digging slightly into the skin there and making minute slices. "I kill the Hollows, I stay away from regular souls, I never steal, but still you people come for me." Belatedly, Lenalee realized that his right hand was fisted around one of her pigtails and was yanking rather hard on it. When she didn't answer right away, he pulled a little harder and she felt a new slice tear itself into the skin of her neck. The cut on her cheek he had inflicted with his thumb was bleeding freely, the warm red liquid flowing down her neck to stain her white juban and create an uncomfortable coagulated feeling all over her skin. "Why?"

"If you hadn't attacked us, it wouldn't have come to this." The Vice-Captain explained, her tone the commanding one that she hated to use outside of a battle situation. "But not only have you attacked a squadron of shinigami, you've drawn blood on a Vice-Captain and crossed swords with a 3rd Seat. By law I have to bring you in for detainment by the Onmitsukido, and you'll face trial for assault." The boy's grip seemed to falter for a second, but it was quickly reaffirmed as he yanked on her pigtail and ground his bare foot harder into her lower back. "I don't want to do that, though."

"Liar!" There was another tug on her pigtail, and this time it was accompanied by a purposeful scratching of one claw across her neck. A thin line of blood formed there, flowing freely in small rivulets to disappear down into the front of her uniform. In a lightning-fast movement, as the boy went to grab at her neck again, Lenalee burst into action. Her elbow went back to impact the boy's side, her head snapping to the side to temporarily daze the boy. The maneuver worked, and in a whip-like motion the Vice-Captain spun around in place and kicked the boy away from her with a good amount of force. Before he could react there was a crack of sound, his opponent moving faster than he could see to appear right above him halfway through a spin. His face barely registered the attack before her boot impacted his gut and threw him straight back down through the foliage with such force that she could hear limbs and branches breaking. Without a second thought she streamlined herself and promptly fell straight down through the hole the boy had created in his descent.

Lenalee hit the ground in a spray of dirt and ivy, her Dark Boots deactivating back down into their sealed form as she jumped from the hole she had punched in the earth. 3rd Seat Rikichi sat on the unconscious boy's back, a series of Bakudo spells already binding his arms and legs together. His zanpakuto lay abandoned a few feet away, the blade embedded nearly halfway into a root that protruded a good three feet above the ground. As she passed the 3rd Seat she held out a hand, and the sheath of the boy's katana was pressed into her palm. Approaching the sword, the Vice-Captain took in careful details in the dimming light of the weakening Sunlight Palms spell that most of the 4th Division members of her squadron had cast. The tsuba of the sword was silver, taking the shape of a five-pointed star with a small sphere at each point. The tsukamaki was black over a white handle, and the blade itself was cruel-looking silver like the edges of his shikai claws.

Without hesitation, Lenalee wrapped her hand around the handle of the sword and tugged. It came loose rather easily for the length of it that was embedded in the wood, and as she stumbled backwards and tried to correct her balance a flash of a face she hadn't thought about for a very long time came to her mind. White hair rustled in an unseen wind, exposing a red scar that lanced across his left eye from a pentacle on his forehead. As if just noticing her focus, the boy turned at smiled at her with a demeanor not unlike that of her Captain. As soon as the memory started it stopped, though, and Lenalee regained her footing in the ivy. She quickly slid the sword into its sheath and handed it off to a 7th Division member.

"Do not lose that." She said, her tone curt and commanding as she approached Rikichi. As she did the 3rd Seat stood, beaming at her as he crossed his heavily-tattooed arms and placed a foot on the back of the small black-haired boy. He didn't even so much stir as he nearly disappeared into the darkening forest floor, the ivy trying to eat him up like it had tried to eat up the unfortunate officer that was now holding him down. "What've you got cast on him?" The question was a logical one- with the boy's Reiryoku levels and subsequent leaking of Reiatsu like a faucet the level of binding spell used to contain him had to be higher than a normal shinigami.

"One of the guys from the 4th Division cast Sajo Sabaku on him as soon as he hit the ground, and a few others followed it up with Horin and Hainawa. With all those binding spells combined I'll be surprised if he can even wiggle when he wakes up." The two officers looked down at the boy, who had begun to snore softly. Lenalee sighed loudly and crouched down next to the kid, smoothing out his unruly black hair with one hand. Rikichi sighed as well, though his was flavored with exasperation at the look he saw forming on his superior officer's face. She was sliding into full-on Mother Hen mode, and there wasn't a force in the entire Seiretei that could stop her once she had.

"I'll take him back, Rikichi. I can get him there faster, and you're more than capable of leading the squad back to Seiretei on your own." Lenalee stood and looked the 3rd Seat in the eye, her brow furrowing at his puzzled look. Without warning he reached out and brushed a hand across her neck, his fingers coming back stained with red.

"Holy shit! You're bleeding!" At the 3rd Seat's shout half the 4th Division members of the squadron immediately converged on the Vice-Captain, and Rikichi couldn't help but laugh at the look of sheer exasperation that she sent him as someone mopped at the blood on her neck and someone else started unwrapping bandages.

-/-

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It was nearing two in the afternoon by the time that Lenalee got back to the 13th Division. She had been held up by the Onmitsukido for general questioning when she had first gotten back, and as soon as she had gotten out of there someone from the 4th Division approached her and told her that her presence was requested by Captain Unohana. She spent the next twenty minutes after that very politely refusing medical treatment, explaining very lightly to the imposing woman that her lacerations were in fact nothing more than particularly deep papercuts and they had already been treated and bound by several members of the very talented team she had brought with her on her mission. The Vice-Captain did concede to a few hot towels and a new shihakusho, however, and her bloody ones went into the wash with a smiling guarantee from the girl she handed them to that she would get them back the next day.

The 13th Division looked much less like a gardener's nightmare by the time she returned than it had when she had left. The heat of the day was really beginning to come to a peak, and the bandages around her neck were uncomfortably hot and itchy in a way that made her want to scratch at them. Men were still shoveling garden debris into the sewers in the main courtyard, but many of them had stripped to just their hakama a while back and were now doing the best they could to impress the few female members of the Division that were watching. Lenalee skirted around a puddle and nodded a greeting to someone as she entered the main building, the shade of the entranceway doing a little but not much to the heat.

"I'm home!" She called out into the building, pulling both shoes off and then heading barefoot down the hall towards her Captain's office. She had both a mission report to write up and a stack of the day's paperwork to do, both of which she wanted to finish before she headed up the Kido training session with a large amount of Division members.

"Welcome back!" Someone yelled from deeper inside the building, probably unsure as to just who was home but answering anyway for the sake of propriety. The Vice-Captain smiled and turned a corner, moving out of the way of two women carrying washtubs full of waterlogged paper and splinters of wood. They nearly overbalanced as they twisted around in recognition and bowed, saying a few polite greetings before continuing on their way. Turning a final corner, Lenalee pulled open the door to her Captain's office and stepped inside. She slid the shoji door closed behind her and sat her shoes down on the step up to the tatami floor, crossing the room quickly to open up one of the outside doors and peer out into the back garden. Captain Ukitake sat on the back porch with a pot of tea next to him, one cup full by his side and another one empty on the other side of the pot. His Captain's haori splayed out behind him in an impressive manner, long white hair blending with the fabric and making it look as though it was missing the symbol of the 13th Division on the back.

"Did you find it?" Captain Ukitake asked by way of conversation, turning around in his seat to look at his Vice-Captain. He didn't immediately notice the bandages on her neck and face, but as he did he pulled himself to his feet so fast that he nearly knocked over his tea and the book he was reading fell off the porch and into a flowerbed. "What happened?" He asked, his tone just barely bordering on a demand. Lenalee bit her lower lip and touched a hand to the itchy bandages at her throat, scratching slightly at the edge.

"The creature was actually a young soul with a fairly decent amount of Reiryoku. If I had to estimate, sir, I would put him at a high-numbered single-digit Seated officer's level." She paused and tapped a finger to her lips, her gaze shifting upwards towards the rafters and away from her Captain. "I would say 8th Seat, sir, but that's me being generous." She looked down to see that her Captain had retrieved his book from the flowerbed as she spoke, and was now dusting the pages off as he sat once again and flipped through it. Wordlessly, he held out a hand and patted the space on the porch on the other side of the teapot from him. Smiling, Lenalee knelt down on the hardwood next to him and looked out at the thrashed garden. The new pond in the corner was already drained, and the rock garden was coming back together one basketful of rocks at a time. The Vice-Captain graciously accepted a teacup from her Captain, and sipped gingerly at it in the shade of the porch. "He possessed both his zanpakuto and its name, sir." Juushiro nearly spat out his tea in surprise, spluttering and coughing for a moment as Lenalee tried to get him to calm down.

"Really?" He sounded fascinated at the prospect of another prodigy coming out of Rukongai, and carefully waved his Vice-Captain away with reassurances that he was perfectly alright and breathing just fine. The smile she gave him at that was a disbelieving one, but she picked up her teacup and headed to her desk all the same. As she went she opened up the office doors completely to the bright summer air, not minding the state of disarray that the view of the garden was in. A simple companionable silence spread between the two officers as Lenalee began shuffling through papers, writing up her report carefully and signing it before moving on to requisition forms and finishing her perusal of the Academy graduate files. The clock in the corner of the room read three forty-five by the time the Vice-Captain reached for her teacup to find it empty. She looked down into the cup with a bemused expression as she reached for a few more papers, acting on autopilot while she mulled over other things.

"Sir?" Captain Ukitake jumped at her voice, his light doze interrupted. He turned back to look at his Vice-Captain, curious as to the uncertain note in her voice. She sighed heavily, seemingly weighing her words, before continuing. "How much of their lives can souls remember?" Her Captain blinked once, twice, before adopting a thoughtful expression. He sat his book down on the hardwood and pushed his bangs back up off of his forehead, letting them fall back down into place as he spoke.

"Souls should remember nothing. If they hold onto faces or names, it's because they held those people extremely dear in life. Those people are few and far between, though, and even if they do remember initially they eventually begin to forget." Lenalee nodded absently at his words, getting up to stretch her legs and crossing the office to step out onto the porch. She leaned down and picked up the cold teapot, an extra finger used to pick up her Captain's empty teacup. "Why?" Captain Ukitake asked, a slight amount of confusion in his voice.

"Just an idle thought," Lenalee began, and as her Captain smiled at her she flashed back to that white-haired boy with the same smile and hair color. "I'll go see what kind of tea is left in the kitchen." She offered, and without allowing her Captain the ability to refuse she turned and made her way into the office and out into the Division building.

-/-

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** NINE AND A QUARTER PAGES IN WORD WITH SIZE 12 FONT. 6K+ WORDS. Sometimes I love my ability to write and not realize just how much I'm writing. Other times I can't stand it. How was that fight scene, was it fight scene-y enough? I liked it. **

**So yeah, I realized as I was writing that if Lenalee had died when she was fighting the Level 3 she never would have seen Allen's Crown Clown form of his Innocence. She thought he was dead when she died. I immediately had an OH FFFFFFFFF- moment and started doing damage control like nobody's business. But it worked out well in the end and as such I think I did a pretty cool job with what I had. **

**I made up Bakudo #14 Sunlight Palms. The incantation is "The clouds obscure not my vision, and as I hold up my hands in reverence I catch a drop of light in my fingers". Why I bothered to write an incantation and everything for it is beyond me but I like the concept of a Bakudo spell that makes your hands glow. It can blind people AND help you keep from knocking your shin on the coffee table at two in the morning!**

**Next chapter will be another Turn Back the Time Record chapter, and it'll be Lenalee's Academy graduation and a rather horrifying run-in with Kiyone and Sentaro. You'll just have to wait and see.**

**So yeah. **

**Review plzthxbai.**

**LCR HAS LEFT THE BUILDING. **


	6. Night 6: Turn Back the Time Record 3

**Back in Black**

_Lt. Commander Richie_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own either Bleach or D Gray-man. Eyup.

**A/N: **I love this idea so much. Unfortunately it was born of writer's block. But still, it's a great idea in my opinion~ The adventures of Lenalee in Soul Society, should she be dead and in possession of a dual zanpakuto! Yeah!

_Night 6: Turn Back the Time Record Part 3

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The Academy's graduation ceremony was an extremely important affair. Not only was it important, it was also extremely formal and steeped in traditions so deep that you could drown in them if you made one wrong move. Each member of the graduating class was required to present a specialty in the field of Kido, Zanjutsu or Hakuda before a panel of attending Captains and other high-ranking officers. In the case of a few Captains, their Vice-Captains attended instead. Each year there were rumors of the Captain of the Kido corps attending, but each time a surreptitious glance was thrown around the attending viewers there wasn't even so much as a hint as to the location of the person in question. In addition to the presenting of a specialty one excelled in, should you be in possession of your zanpakuto you were required to display your initial release. Going into the graduation ceremony, only about half of the class actually had their zanpakuto and knew the command to release them.

To begin with, the entire graduating class would stand at attention in regimented rows and columns by name. They would continue to stand until every ranking officer in attendance had found their seat, and even then would continue to stand at attention until the Captain-Commander sat down. The officers would bow as they sat, lined up along the Captain-Commander's right in even-numbered Divisions and odd-numbered Divisions on the left. As the Captain-Commander gave his speech to the graduating class, complete silence was required. Nobody knew what it was that happened if you spoke, or even so much as coughed, but they didn't dare do it for fear of the consequence. As the old man's booming voice tapered off every member of the graduating class thanked him at once and bowed as low as they could. From there they would kneel in the courtyard before the demonstration area until such a time as their name was called.

As a person demonstrated, they were only allowed to speak their name and any Kido incantations they cast, as well as the release command for their zanpakuto. Complete silence, it was explained, was thought of as an exercise in self-discipline. Misfired Kido were not to be dodged by spectators, but blocked by a higher-numbered Bakudo. The only reason someone was allowed to move beyond their demonstration was for a medical emergency, and those that did were not allowed to complete their demonstration. All of this was well and good, very understandable, but as each person walked forward and said their name before exhibiting their specialty and zanpakuto the experience quickly became tiresome.

Lenalee did not like where she was situated. On each side of her was a rather seedy-looking boy with greasy strands of hair that refused to stay back in the low ponytail they had tried to tie. They were brothers, separated only by their first names being different. Both of them stank like they hadn't discovered the concept of a bath as long as they had lived, and one of them had roving eyes. As the day wore on, the sun getting higher in the sky and beginning to truly bake the ground everyone kneeled on, the two boys began to attract flies. One boy took to blowing at them every time they got too close to his face, but the other was a little slower on the uptake and slapped one that tried to land next to his eye. The sound rang through the silent courtyard like a branch breaking in a quiet forest, and before Lenalee could even begin to blink two members of the fabled Onmitsukido had appeared just behind the boy. By the time she had finished the motion he was gone, leaving an empty space next to her that stank significantly less now that its occupant was gone.

The name list was into the H names when the first person collapsed over backwards due to heat exhaustion. In the mousy girl's defense she had never really been seen outside often, and her Kido marks were the only ones higher than Lenalee's own. She had been exempted from Zanjutsu halfway through her third year when her arm was broken by a classmate, and Hakuda followed directly afterwards. But she was Nobility, and Nobility got you places, so she stayed on to attempt graduation. She was quickly whisked away by the same two members of the Onmitsukido, though for all anyone knew it could have been two completely different people since they all looked alike. Lenalee could feel the sweat trickling down her back as the sun baked her neck, but beyond that she refused to acknowledge anything but the thoughts in her mind. Within it she floated in cool water, her pigtails like streamers behind her in the darkness as she talked in bubbles of words to her zanpakuto spirits.

A particularly impressive display was the one by a boy named Ito Kamagawa; his zanpakuto's release a spectacularly large Naginata that set fire to everything it sliced. He demonstrated his ability to solidify spirit particles in the air as he stood a good ten feet from the ground and carved several large kanji into the demonstration field before performing series of attacking maneuvers with the released zanpakuto and put out the fires with a well-placed Hado. With his demonstration finished he sealed his sword and sheathed it, bowing deeply to the assembled officers before stepping off of the demonstration field and accepting his shihakusho.

It wasn't long before Lenalee was bade to stand, gracefully unfolding her legs and walking forward with purpose. She stepped onto the demonstration field and bowed deeply, stating her name carefully before crouching low to the ground and shouting out her release command. Before her boots had even finished fully forming she sprung into the air, several graceful flips and twists accompanying the impressive display of speed. She twisted in midair and kicked off of the open space, doing another flip at the last moment before she hit the ground to drive her heel as hard as she could into the dirt. The demonstration field exploded into rubble, the Captains and other officers casting shields in front of themselves just as the graduating students did. Without waiting for the dust to clear Lenalee flipped backwards to give herself room and fired off Sokatsui without the incantation. In a split second she was on the other end of the spell, flipping backwards to kick it upwards into the air. The bright spell shot upwards and exploded into a shower of sparks, and as they began to fall in a beautiful display she began a routine of lightning-fast Hakuda techniques.

The entire purpose of the demonstration was to showcase your power level, so that the Captains could bicker later over who got which graduate. But Lenalee felt as though she was cheating somehow, even if it wasn't a game for anyone but the Captains. Everyone that graduated would get an assignment to a Division, but the more powerful students sometimes demonstrated straight up into seated positions. As such the young girl stopped her Hakuda routine short and began kicking the large boulders she had dislodged back into the crater she had created with her initial strike. It was certainly unorthodox, but as she cleared the largest pieces of rubble off of the demonstration field and filled in the hole she made she couldn't help but feel like it was fair.

With the ground looking a little lumpier but not much worse for wear, Lenalee bowed deeply and sealed her zanpakuto. She walked calmly from the demonstration field and bowed to the man handing each person a shihakusho, before accepting the black and white garments and making her way inside. It was much cooler in the shade, but after spending as many hours as she had outside she was promptly blinded by the darkness inside. Someone grabbed her by the arm and pulled her along, situating her in a bright area and putting a drink in her free hand.

"Little Lena, you are a shoe-in for a single-digit Seated officer's position." The girl blinked owlishly in the dark room, unsure as to who was talking to her as she tried and failed to see around the bright green spots in her vision. Someone snapped their fingers in front of her face and grabbed her chin, turning her head in the opposite direction from where she was facing. "Lena, honey, I'm over here." The woman's voice was kind and warm, and the young girl could practically hear the smile there.

"I'm a little snow-blind and the moment Mrs. Ota, I'm sorry." As Lenalee's vision began to clear the visage of a heavily-pregnant slightly older woman with dark blue hair smiled at her out of a room full of happy graduates. "Do you really think I'm Seated officer material?" The woman fixed her with a familiar look, the kind that spoke volumes without being condescending or angry. It was the look of an exasperated mother, and it was one of Lenalee's favorite looks to manage to get out of her Kido instructor.

"Am I due with twins?" The woman asked sarcastically, patting her large stomach as if to prove a point. She jumped as some small limb hit back, before laughing loudly and rubbing at her stomach. Lenalee shifted her grip on her new shihakusho and sipped at the cup of water she had been handed, blinking the residual spots from her eyes as she surveyed the room. It was full of people talking and generally being loud, an air of relief passing through everything.

"At least that many, ma'am. But a single-digit Seated position?" The blue-haired woman reached forward and lightly smacked the girl on the side of the head with her hand, clucking at her like a mother hen. Lenalee looked confused at the reaction, her eyebrows furrowing together.

"Stop doubting yourself. In ten years you could make Vice-Captain if you continue to grow and train like you have." Mrs. Ota grabbed at the girl's arm and pulled her away from the window, instead shoving her lightly towards the congregation of other graduates in the room. "Now go! You're supposed to be celebrating, so celebrate!" Lenalee could find no flaw in her former instructor's logic, and with a wave and a smile she went to join her graduating classmates in conversation. She shuffled from group to group, chatting amicably, and laughing along with everyone else. The general consensus was that freedom was good, and a few of the rowdier students even talked about taking their school uniforms and burning them when they were finally sent home at the end of the day. Others were talking about making a fast buck selling their textbooks, and some of the more Kido-proficient were considering taking their texts out to the practice range to use them as targets.

Eventually the bell sounded, signaling the end of the graduation ceremony. As if it was rehearsed the entire crowd of graduates began to cheer and yell their appreciation to the ceiling. Someone shouted out the suggestion of going for drinks, and if it was at all possible the screaming and yelling got even louder. Quite a few people headed for the door and their subsequent freedom, spilling out into one of the back courtyards before disappearing in large groups with flashes of shunpo. Lenalee and several people, considering themselves saner than others, turned towards the dormitories and made to go put their shihakusho away and maybe take a nice long bath. They laughed and chatted as they walked, bouncing off of one another in an effort to get each other to stumble. One unfortunately dim boy stumbled to the side just a little and hit his head on a support beam for the outdoor walkway's roof, bouncing back with a bemused expression before busting into a loud laugh. The group made it most of the way to the dormitories before a shout behind them made most of them turn, watching as a young man in a shihakusho ran across the courtyard towards them.

"Which one of you is-" the man began, before leaning down on his knees and gasping for breath. Lenalee looked at the girls next to her, trading bemused expressions before returning their attention to the young shinigami. "Which one of you is Lenalee Lee?" he managed to gasp his words out, and Lenalee stepped forward unhesitating to crouch next to him.

"I'm Lenalee- are you alright?" The young shinigami nodded, taking a few deep breaths before standing up straight and pulling a few documents from the front of his shihakusho and handing them over. The young girl stood and took them with a slight nod of a bow, unfolding them clumsily with one hand so as to read them.

"Lenalee Lee, these are your Division assignment papers. You are required to report to your Division's offices by nine tomorrow morning. Shihakusho is required on all shinigami, though personalization to accommodate for fighting style is reviewed on a case-by-case bas-" the young man was cut off as Lenalee shouted in surprise, her eyes skimming over her assignment papers with shock and disbelief.

"Lenalee Lee, by request of the 13th Division Captain Juushiro Ukitake and order of Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni, you are hereby assigned the position of… _6__th__ Seat of the 13__th__ Division of the 13 Court Guard Squads_!" Screams erupted from the group of girls and several boys, excitement rippling through them as two girls hugged Lenalee tightly and they all jumped up and down. The young shinigami, nonplussed, took a step backwards before retreating. Still screaming and now planning a party, the group ran the rest of the way to the dormitories to change out of their uniforms and into things acceptable to go splurge on a nice restaurant in. The chatter of excited girls reached out of open windows and into the courtyard, impatient to know their own Division assignments.

-/-

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-/-

Lenalee had discovered fairly quickly during the time she spent at the Academy that wearing hakama was not very conducive to her fighting technique of jumps, spins and flying at fairly high speeds. She could do it, certainly, but if she got too fast the pants would rip right off of her and it was an extremely embarrassing experience. She knew that from an unfortunate personal experience, and didn't want to repeat that experience ever again. So instead of the hakama she dug out her only formal obi and wore her kosode and juban folded like a kimono at the waist. This made the skirt shorter, but as it did that it also freed up her legs to kick higher and faster. Of course she nearly got in trouble when she first reported to the 13th Division with her uniform as such, but as her situation was evaluated she was allowed to keep the uniform variation as long as she kept her skirt a little longer than she originally tied it.

Beyond the uniform, however, adjusting to life in the Seiretei was surprisingly easy. Lenalee quickly took to paperwork like a duck to water, clearing up the unfortunate backlog due to her Captain's illness with a few weeks of diligent work. She was always smiling as she worked, her demeanor unchanged no matter how much work she was given. When she took breaks she would make a large pot of tea and bring it around to the other offices with a tray of teacups, gently offering to anyone she could find working. Her gentle demeanor, combined with her occasional adorable outburst of confusion or anger, quickly made her everyone's equivalent of a younger sister. People hated seeing her cry, and would go to great lengths to keep her from doing so.

"Hey little Lena, the Captain wants you in his office." Large purple eyes jumped up from where they were surveying a requisition form and looking for errors, fixing on the 5th Seat Yoshi Shiratori with a blank look of surprise. The 6th Seat blinked once before her superior officer's words registered in her mind, and as they did she quickly scrambled to her feet and smoothed out her skirt.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, quickly exiting her nearly cupboard-sized office and joining the 5th Seat in the hall. He shook his head as she closed her door behind her, narrowly avoiding getting a pigtail caught between the sliding door and its frame.

"He didn't tell me what he wanted, but it didn't sound too bad." The two began the long trek down the hall from the personnel offices to the higher offices, ducking through the Division's small officer's kitchen as a short cut. An unattended teapot was whistling on the outdated range top at a high pitch, and Lenalee grabbed a towel and used it to cover her hand as she pulled it from the heat and set it on a hot pad before turning off the burner. With a potential disaster adverted the two continued their walk in relative silence, passing through patches of dappled sunlight as the wind blew at the trees outside the windows. As they reached a door 5th Seat Shiratori knocked once, waiting for an answer.

"Enter." The Captain's voice was deep and calming, eased and relaxed in the stillness of the summer day. Yoshi slid the door open slightly and peered in, a crack of bright sunlight appearing on the darker wall across from the opening. From out in the hall Lenalee could hear birds chirping, the back doors of the office into the back garden no doubt wide open to the pretty day.

"I've found 6th Seat Lee for you, sir." Captain Ukitake must have nodded, because the 5th Seat opened the door further and gestured for her to enter. With careful steps the 6th Seat entered, stepping up onto the tatami flooring and crossing the brightly lit office to stand before her Captain's desk. It was a traditionally low affair with a cushion behind it instead of a large Western-style desk and chair like several of the other Divisions. He gestured for her to sit as he finished signing a document, carefully holding his white haori sleeve away from the paper as he laid down his brush next to his inkwell. Lenalee, with every measure of formality she could muster from her Academy classes, knelt on the one cushion on the other side of the desk and crossed her palms in her lap. She was thrown for a loop, however, as a small drawstring organza bag full of gummy bears was held out to her- produced from inside her Captain's sleeve. Nonplussed, she held out her hands and accepted it.

"Myself and Captain Kyouraku want to assess the abilities of your Dark Boots." Her Captain suddenly businesslike, Lenalee sat the bag of sweets aside and sat at rapt attention. "As of right now, the three of us are the only shinigami to have ever possessed more than one zanpakuto. I don't believe that I need to explain the amount of potential you have because of this." At this the young girl nodded, one of her pigtails trying desperately to flip over her shoulder onto her chest. She brushed it backwards and smiled lightly, paying careful attention to her Captain's words. "Should you require it, we also want to train you." Shocked, Lenalee couldn't bite back a rebuttal.

"I can't ask you to do that, sir!" She protested, her hands going to her knees as she leaned forward slightly. "Neither you nor Captain Kyouraku have a zanpakuto like mine, and I can't ask you to take time out of your lives to train me!" The 6th Seat bit her lower lip in a way that suggested she was trying to stop herself from digging into a deeper hole, meeting her Captain's brown gaze with her own purple one. "I don't intend to sound ungrateful, sir, but I'm only a 6th Seat and I've only been here a month. There are surely other people that could use personal training to maximize their capabilities. I don't want to be treated preferentially just because I have two zanpakuto." Lenalee moved her gaze downward, inspecting the grain of the wood Captain Ukitake's desk was made of with a critic's eye. She expected a reprimand from the man, and clenched her fists into the edge of her short skirt. A long moment passed between the two, the stillness of the summer day stretching out the time further than it already had been by the silence.

"I suppose you're right," her Captain began, apparently sensing the distress the offer had caused his 6th Seat. The break in the silence made Lenalee look up, blinking owlishly at the older man with undisguised surprise. "It is preferential, and neither of us have Hakuda-based zanpakuto." Internally, the girl breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed slightly. "On the other hand, however, there is not a single person in the entire Seiretei that is a lower rank than you and more versed in Hakuda. There are very few outside the Onmitsukido that are as trained in that as you are because of your lack of a sword-form zanpakuto."

"But sir-" she tried to interject, but Captain Ukitake held up a hand and she fell silent immediately.

"The people around you don't always have to come first, Lenalee. Living for those around you can rob you of opportunities you wouldn't otherwise have." Lenalee clenched her teeth in an effort not to make any sort of comment, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Belatedly noticing them, Captain Ukitake looked apologetic. He started to get up, maybe to comfort the 6th Seat, just as the shoji doors that led into the adjacent office were slammed wide open with a massive bang and a pair of triumphant shouts rang out. Lenalee squeaked in surprise as a pair of strong arms looped around her waist and she was hoisted into the air like a large sack, the world suddenly blurring as she was drug along on a jump of shunpo out into the gardens.

"We're got you now, you… you… Scarlet woman!" The 6th Seat blinked in surprise as she was suddenly dropped on the ground, her kidnappers stepping back with triumphant looks on their faces.

"I can insult her better than that, you idiot!" Before the young shinigami's eyes the two 3rd Seats of the 13th Division began fist fighting and calling each other names, pulling at each other's hair and clothes as they spat out insults like water fountains. She tried to get their attention as she looked around at the garden, attempting to figure out where they had dumped her. She had only ever met the two competitive Seated officers twice before this, and each time they had seemed less trusting of her than the last.

"Hey!" The girl, Kiyone Kotetsu, shoved her counterpart away and pointed at the confused 6th Seat. "Pay attention!" Lenalee scrambled to her feet, smoothing out her skirt before standing at attention. "We know what you're up to!" If the unfortunate girl hadn't been confused before the 3rd Seat spoke, she certainly was now. Innocently, the pigtailed 6th Seat pointed at herself.

"Yeah you!" Recovering from the shove to the side of the face he had received, 3rd Seat Sentaro Kotsubaki shoved at his female counterpart in return before continuing. "Don't play dumb with us, we've seen this all before!"

"I could say it better than that!" Again the two 3rd Seats began to bicker, pulling at each other's faces in an attempt to best the other. Lenalee sighed and put a hand to the bridge of her nose, the conversation with Captain Ukitake coming back to the front of her mind as she tried diligently to ignore the two bickering officers in front of her. However, when they showed no signs of letting up the 6th Seat drew herself up to her full height and stared down her two superior officers.

"What's this about?" She demanded, her hands balling into fists and planting on her hips in a very motherly pose. The two 3rd Seats stopped fighting immediately, stretching each other's faces into horribly comical positions at the same time. "I was having a conversation with Captain Ukitake, and all of a sudden I'm in the middle of the garden being called a scarlet woman! What does that even _mean_!" Without warning 3rd Seat Kotsubaki let go of his counterpart, letting her fall to the ground rubbing her pinched cheeks. He too drew himself up to his full height, peering down his nose and small beard at Lenalee as he crossed his arms.

"Stop attempting to seduce our Captain." He said, voice perfectly level and face as set as stone. He showed no indication that he was joking, and the shorter 6th Seat processed what he had just said very carefully. The wind blew through the part of the garden they had stopped in, rustling the leaves around them with soft noises. The near-silence was broken by a loud slap, 3rd Seat Kotsubaki yelling in surprise immediately afterwards. He stumbled backwards holding his cheek, a large red handprint visible there.

"That's assaulting a superior officer!" 3rd Seat Kotetsu yelled, pointing angrily at the young shinigami that she and her compatriot had just kidnapped from a private meeting. "It's not like it's a baseless accusation, either! Every year there's at least one gold-digging airhead that tries to get in good with our Captain, and yours is the worst technique we've seen so far! Bringing him tea every day? Wearing a skirt so short you couldn't make a belt out of it? Being as formally prim and proper as you possibly can? You're about as subtle as a flying mallet!"

"I've been here all of a month! I've only met our Captain four times, and you think I'm some kind of… of… of gold digger? Just how many girls passed through here to make you this paranoid?" Lenalee nearly made a face as 3rd Seat Kotsubaki started counting on his fingers, giving in when he looked down at his feet and started wiggling his toes as well. "This is crazy!"

"Well it's not like we have any choice in the matter- Captain Ukitake tries to get the best graduates he can and then just leaves enlistment completely open!" Sentaro protested, only to get punched in the side by his orange-haired compatriot.

"He does that because he's the kindest Captain the Seiretei has ever had!" As if the compliment was fighting words, the two began to tussle again. Lenalee sighed and put one hand to her forehead, knowing better than to get in the middle of the fight but wanting badly to get them to stop. As she watched her two superior officers fight, she couldn't help but feel that the whole situation could have been avoided had her Captain just appointed one Vice-Captain and gotten it over with. But what was done was done, and she carefully stepped aside as the two 3rd Seats rolled past punching and biting at each other while yelling curses and insults.

-/-

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**So I probably could have ended this better. But you know what? The Turn Back the Time Record chapters really just suck as a whole, and as such I have stopped expecting much from them. Not to mention it was getting kinda tedious to write it and I just needed to get it over with. **

**You know, I really wouldn't put it past Ukitake to be totally oblivious to the good half-dozen women in his Division at any one time that are all vying for his affections. It would make me lol, though, if he was aware and he was just humoring them because none of them know he's really been married for the last three hundred years or something. **

**I found it very hard to write Lenalee in this chapter and I don't know why. Oh well, yo. At least I broke 4.5K words like usual for a chapter in this, which is actually a large amount for me on a good day. **

**Why am I not writing The Loveless right now D:**

**REVIEW~**

**Lt. Commander Richie, out-**


	7. Night 7: Things Like Remembrance

**Back in Black**

_Lt. Commander Richie_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own either Bleach or D Gray-man. Eyup.

**A/N: **I love this idea so much. Unfortunately it was born of writer's block. But still, it's a great idea in my opinion~ The adventures of Lenalee in Soul Society, should she be dead and in possession of a dual zanpakuto! Yeah!

_Night 7: Things Like Remembrance

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The sun rose on a beautiful day in the Seiretei, fall just barely beginning to set in as the maple leaves tinted orange and yellow and red in an impressive display of color. The gardens of the 13th Division looked like they had never been hit by a massive summer storm, utterly beautiful in the early morning light as mist rose into the air around the flowers and trees. Lenalee knelt on the porch outside her quarters' back shoji doors, a pot of tea next to her as she looked out over the grounds and the lake that her quarters overlooked. At the end of a small wooden walkway was her Captain's own home, suspended out over the water in relative tranquility. She raised her teacup to her lips and took a sip of the steaming liquid, relishing in the cool of the morning while it was still around. As the day wore on it promised to be a hot one, and she wasn't looking forward to it in the slightest. Today was the annual graduation ceremony for the Academy, and she pitied the students that would have to take part. A chill rose up her spine, and the Vice-Captain pulled her light purple sleeping haori tighter around her slim figure and the light blue yukata she wore. Her hair fell down her back unbound, pooling on the hardwood walkway behind her in a small puddle of black.

This year's graduates looked like a very promising bunch, full of high-achievers and powerful people. The graduation demonstrations the Vice-Captain would have to sit through were definitely going to be ones to remember, and though it was going to be a sweltering day she could bear the heat to see the newest crop of shinigami be inducted into the 13 Court Guard Squads. It was unfortunate in the manner by which she had been allowed to attend, however- Captain Ukitake was bedridden, hating every moment of it, and would be for the next week on Captain Unohana's orders. He had resigned himself to Ugendo and stocked up on fish food, spending most of his time as close to the water's edge as he could and throwing handfuls of food into the water. The fish he was feeding were absolutely monstrous in size, to the point where they probably didn't even count as carp anymore, but still he continued to throw food to them to watch them jump. Occasionally the small pink blur that was Vice-Captain Kusajishi would stop by and chat, leaving with her arms full of candy.

Sighing, Lenalee gathered her legs up underneath her and stood up in the cool morning air. She leaned down and grabbed her teapot, using her toes to open the shoji door into her quarters once she realized that she had no free hands. Inside the air was warm and comforting, but everything was an absolute wreck. Her futon was nearly buried in an avalanche of small cute fuzzy stuffed animals, her closet door propped open because of the sheer amount of hangars that were stuffed inside. Most everything inside it was a pastel color, and what wasn't pastel was black, white, or neon. Her uniform lay over the back of a chair in the corner, a few dirty ones in a hamper next to it and looking rather forlorn. Her hair ties and makeup sat on her vanity, the mirror surrounded by pictures and stickers like the mirror of a young teenage girl. With a light clink the Vice-Captain sat her teapot on the vanity with her teacup and knelt to open the bottom drawer of the dresser she kept next to her closet. Inside were carefully folded formal obis, most of them white with various embroidered designs. Foregoing the usual white she folded a few back, instead choosing a light green obi with embroidered white flowers.

As she crossed the room to grab her uniform, Lenalee shucked her nightclothes and quickly dressed to ward off the slight chill. With everything tightly folded and tied she began hunting for her usual black cord to finish tying her obi off with, finding herself curiously unable to locate it after several minutes. With a light grumble she grabbed a pink one from a drawer on her vanity, swiftly tying it with a knot in the front and again in the back before she sat down and began to apply her makeup. It wasn't much more than foundation and powder- the summer heat basically ensured that any mascara she wore would melt by the end of the day. As a finishing touch she picked up a brush and put her hair up into their customary gold ties, the black pigtails reaching to the small of her back and still growing. She picked one up and held it out, gently contemplating whether or not she wanted to get them cut anytime soon as she looked in the mirror. Every time she considered it there was this nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she shouldn't do it, and more often than not she listened to that nagging sensation.

As she stood Lenalee grabbed her silver cross pin from where she usually hung it on the edge of her vanity's mirror. The beads that hung from it were added on a whim by her a few months after she had started wearing it as a normal accessory, bright green and red jade that clicked together every now and then as she walked. She pinned to her obi over the pink cord she tied around it, just left of center and at a slight angle. As an afterthought the Vice-Captain pulled a pink scarf from the edge of her mirror and tied it around her waist just above the obi, bending to grab her shoes in the same motion before heading for the door and shutting the lights off. She had almost closed the door before she opened it again and ran inside, grabbing her Vice-Captain's badge and heading back out again.

By her calculations she had about two hours before she had to appear at the Academy, two and a half before she would be seated and listening to the Captain-General's speech. In a way it was exciting to the young girl- she hadn't been to the graduation demonstrations in nearly ten years because of Captain Ukitake's insistence. It was his own personal tradition to tough out the late summer heat so as to view the abilities of the newest shinigami to join the ranks of the 13 Court Guard Squads. Lenalee and most, if not all, of the 4th Division objected very strongly to this particular tradition of his. As she thought of her Captain the girl turned a corner on a whim, deciding to take him some breakfast before she left. She absently began to hum as she made her way to the officer's kitchen, turning the final corner before the doorway just as she began to smell something good cooking on the out-dated stove. The Vice-Captain belatedly realized that she was humming along with actual music, and it was coming from the open doorway into the kitchen. The tune was familiar, and all pity for her sick Captain was quickly thrown out the window as the young officer realized what was playing. She turned the corner into the kitchen just as the guitar solo ended, switching to a fast-paced electric piano solo accompanied by electric drums with plenty of synth.

Standing at the counter with his long white hair in a high ponytail, his back to her, was Captain Ukitake. His long fingers flew across the hardwood as he played an invisible keyboard along with the slightly-battered radio/CD player that was belting out _Jump_ by Van Halen. The foreign song was one of his favorites, and Lenalee almost regretted giving him the CD for his birthday all those years ago. He looked a little silly sliding side to side in his socks as he played his invisible piano, and the image was made even more so by the blue and green striped yukata he wore. Next to him, going unnoticed, the rice cooker was starting to boil over and what appeared to be a pot of Miso was threatening to do the same. A small saucepan of hard-boiling eggs was already hissing angrily, water splashing over the side and onto the range top stove. Lenalee took all this in at a moment's glance and quickly crossed the room, pulling the plug on the CD player with a careful ferocity. Captain Ukitake immediately looked up with an expression like he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. In the relative quiet the two officers stared each other down until Juushiro gave a slightly apologetic-sounding cough. His Vice-Captain's expression immediately softened and she set the CD player's cord down on the counter before pulling the eggs from the stove and setting the pot in the sink.

"You're supposed to be in bed." The smaller girl's tone was admonishing, but it was hard to stay mad at her Captain when he was standing around looking forlorn in his pajamas. As if just noticing the worsening disarray of the pots on the stove, he grabbed an oven mitt and pulled the Miso from the range and turned down the rice cooker. As he set the scalding pot down on the counter Lenalee firmly grabbed him by his ponytail and pulled him over to one of the Western-style chairs that ringed the table on the other side of the room. He yelped in surprise, but otherwise didn't protest the action. "You could have burned down the whole building, sir. You know you're not supposed to cook without supervision!" In that moment Lenalee was like an admonishing mother, going back to the steaming pots and pans and rolling her sleeves up to finish the rather sparse breakfast. She peeled the eggs and sliced them, occasionally shooting glances at her silent Captain. He wasn't supposed to be out of bed, but now that he was there wasn't much she could do about it.

"I wish I didn't have to delegate the graduation demonstrations onto you." Captain Ukitake spoke after his relatively long silence, pulling at his ponytail to bring it to the base of his neck in a loose gather that framed his face. Lenalee looked up across the counter at him and smiled, the look a genuinely happy one even as she nearly scalded herself on the hot rice she was trying to scoop into two bowls. "It makes me feel a little useless, if I'm being frank."

"You brought your Isoniazid and Rifampicin with you when you came up here, right sir?" The question came a little out of the blue, and Juushiro floundered for a moment before nodding and reaching into his sleeve to produce two orange pill bottles. He set them on the table with a plastic click, just out of the way as his Vice-Captain sat a bowl of rice and a bowl of Miso down in front of him. Before he could thank her she returned with a plate of eggs and a plate of slightly cold natto, the beans having only spent about fifteen seconds in the ancient microwave on the shelf under the counter. Next came condiments and a plate of flavored nori, and without being able to get a single word in edgewise the white-haired Captain was beginning to feel a good deal like a child being simultaneously served and ignored by his mother. He got up and slid past her, ignoring the objections she gave as she juggled dishes to try and grab at his ponytail again and make him sit down.

"I didn't promote you to serve me breakfast, Lenalee!" Captain Ukitake said, his voice slightly sing-song as he grabbed utensils from one of the drawers and napkins from another. He turned and found his Vice-Captain directly behind him, her hands on her hips and a patronizing look in her eyes. She held out a hand expectantly, and with a mockingly long-suffering sigh the Captain set the chopsticks and napkins in her outstretched palm. The glaring look instantly melted away and the young girl moved to the table, setting the last pieces of breakfast out the way they were supposed to be done. Her Captain followed, retaking his seat just as his subordinate took hers. They both said their thanks and began to eat in relative silence, not paying much attention to the other beyond asking to pass certain condiments.

"It's going to be hot today." Lenalee swallowed heavily before speaking, letting out a small cough as she finished and covering her mouth with her napkin. Captain Ukitake nodded in agreement, shooting a glance at the small window in the kitchen wall and the fan wedged into it. They would be needing it sooner rather than later, but as much as he loathed to admit it he would be retiring back to Ugendo after breakfast and wouldn't quite require it. "I pity the Academy kids. The demonstrations are just for show, aren't they? They've already passed their exams and turned in their Division request forms, so what's the point?"

"A long time ago, students weren't allowed to request Division assignments. Only in the last…" Looking thoughtful, Captain Ukitake trailed off and tapped the butt of his chopsticks against his chin. "Four hundred years. Only in the last four hundred years or so have people been allowed to ask for Division assignments before their demonstrations. Of course they don't always get their wish because another Captain wants their particular skill, but that's life. Someone can always ask for a transfer if they don't like the Division they end up in, but a transfer won't always go through." Carefully, Juushiro dipped a piece of nori in soy sauce and then laid it over his rice before picking up a large clump of the stuff and eating the entire combination. Lenalee nodded understandingly, returning to her breakfast.

"So," after a few more bites of food she spoke again, snatching her Captain's attention away from his attempts to pull a piece of egg yolk from the soy sauce dish without it crumbling apart. "Are you looking for anything particular? I'll exercise my judgment in the best interests of the Division, but is there anything I should look out for in terms of Zanjutsu mastery, Kido usage skill, Hakuda proficiency?"

"You were the one that read all the files we were sent, I'm just happy to have anyone." Captain Ukitake responded coolly, a smile gracing his features before he suddenly began to cough. Lenalee was on her feet in an instant, her napkin in her hand as she pulled her Captain's hand from his mouth and held it there. As the attack slowed she pulled it away and balled it up, not wanting to look at the red that stained the perfectly white surface. What little bit of it there was on her hand that had bled through the fabric she wiped off on her black kosode, and she ran to the sink and pulled a glass from the cupboard above it and filled it with water. She returned to the table just as he began coughing again, this time grabbing his napkin to cover his mouth. With an unfortunately practiced efficiency Lenalee picked up both his pill bottles and uncapped them, counting out his dosage and setting them on the table next to the glass she had brought. As his coughing slowed Juushiro leaned back in his chair, wiping his napkin across his mouth in a motion to remove any more blood before he drank.

"Here," with a tender note to her voice, Lenalee held out the glass of water as he picked up his medication from the tabletop. In a gulp the pills were gone, quickly chased by a careful drink of water. "You're not staying up here any longer, sir. I should have brought you right back down to Ugendo when I first caught you up here." Captain Ukitake fixed her with a weak smile, which she returned with a sad one. Her hands gentle she helped him from his chair, carefully steering him out into the hall and leaving the breakfast dishes strewn across the table. They walked in relative silence until they reached his office, and unmindful of the tatami floor tromped right across it in her shoes that she had put on at some point as she led him out into the garden. "I'm going to have to use shunpo, sir. Just warning you."

Without giving her superior officer a chance to protest the world seemed to blur, not quite to the extent that it did when being drug alongside her jumps with her Dark Boots but still to the point where shapes became blobs and colors liked to blend together. In an instant the two were standing on the open porch of Ugendo, Captain Ukitake immediately seizing back up into a coughing fit again. Lenalee steered him to his bed and forced him down into it, drawing the covers up over him and pulling his hair from his face so he wouldn't get blood in his bangs. The entire experience was a little surreal to the Vice-Captain; despite her unfortunately lengthy experience dealing with her Captain's illness she had never seen it strike with such sudden ferocity. Tears threatened to well in her eyes as she knelt by her Captain's side and Lenalee bit her lip and tried not to let them come.

"I'll be fine, Lenalee. My health shouldn't be the biggest concern in your life." Again her Captain began to cough, and wordlessly the much younger officer handed him a nearby handkerchief that looked relatively unspoiled and devoid of too many suspicious stains.

"I'm stopping by the 4th Division on my way to the Academy, and I'm going to get someone to come out here and make sure you're alright." The coughing spasm slowing, Ukitake blinked at his Vice-Captain. Her voice was stony and serious, a slight waver just barely threatening to burst through it. Pulling the handkerchief from his lips the Captain smiled, his free hand moving to cover Lenalee's clenched fists. To her his skin was cold, and her heart sunk at the sensation.

"That will be fine," he reassured her, and she pulled one of her clenched fists out from beneath his hand to open it up and lay her palm across the top of the cold pale skin. She briefly squeezed his hand before standing, nodding shortly to her superior officer and turning swiftly to walk out onto the open porch. A startled heron jumped from the end of the porch into the water, flapping its wings in a huffy manner.

"I'll see about getting Vice-Captain Kotetsu out here to see to you, sir." She turned to give him a brilliant smile, no doubt a very forced one, before disappearing in a flash of shunpo.

-/-

* * *

-/-

Being seated next to the person that Captain Zaraki delegated the task of going to the graduation demonstrations instead of himself or Vice-Captain Kusajishi had both its ups and downs. On the very good side, it meant that he wasn't the Kenpachi of Zaraki or his small pink-haired terror of a Vice-Captain. On the unfortunate side it meant that it was 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame, and if you glanced in his direction you would get a face full of reflected sunlight. Lenalee was careful, however, and didn't even as much as think of glancing in his direction until the sun hit high noon and the officers' seating area was in complete shadow. She could no longer quite feel her ankles, and her thighs were completely numb. Every time she just barely shifted she would get a Charlie Horse that started in one leg and spread to the other, making her bite her lower lip and make a face that was apparently rather comical as the 3rd Seat beside her kept snickering at her misfortune.

The sun was baking the students below in a way that was nearly unheard of. The temperature was easily topping a hundred degrees in the shade, the humidity making shihakusho stick to very awkward and uncomfortable places. Three kids had already keeled over and had to be taken away by masked Onmitsukido members, and a few exhausted students had misfired Hado spells into the walls and their fellow students. Fortunately Bakudo were easy to cast, and shields of varying strength went up with nearly alarming speed every time a stray spell got too close. Sometimes the shields were cast too quickly, however, and they shattered in impact to send a student or two flying onto their back to be picked up by Onmitsukido members.

"All the interesting kids have already gone." 3rd Seat Madarame grumbled, his brow furrowing as he watched a boy with short and spiky orange hair by the name of Tofune Kanta take the demonstration field. He unsheathed a nodachi from his back, flying through several Zanjutsu katas before lighting up the blade with a rather expertly-applied Tsuzuri Raiden and flinging bits of lightning every which way. With a sudden shout his nodachi extended and warped into a large whip, huge barbs of wicked-looking metal extending from the main body every few feet. This he swung around with a little less precision, but he still carved some very impressive-looking ruts in the demonstration field. After a few minutes of this the whip shrunk back down into its sealed nodachi form and he sheathed it, bowing deeply before leaving the field to accept his shihakusho.

"Renji'll want him." From 3rd Seat Madarame's other side came the voice of Captain Hisagi, calm and resigned as he fanned himself with a small uchiwa without appearing to be moving. Lenalee and Ikkaku both nodded tersely, understanding the logic behind the deduction. The zanpakuto of the new graduate and the redheaded Captain were fairly similar in released form, but not without their major differences. If Captain Abarai didn't get him then Captain Kurosaki definitely would just to rub it in the other Captain's face.

As the next name was called Lenalee stopped paying attention to the whispered conversations and leaned forward in interest. Her concentration on the whispered conversations around her disappeared completely as her mind focused on one thing- the name of the person that was just called forward. She had seen it before, had even spoken it aloud as she ruminated on the vague feeling of familiarity it brought. But before that, even when given a familiar face in a file to go with it they had never seemed quite right to her as one person. But as a boy stepped out to the edge of the demonstration field, his long black ponytail brushing the small of his back with every step he made, the two seemed to fit perfectly together. Without warning the boy sprung into action, katana leaving the jet black sheath at his side with a hiss audible even to the officers assembled to watch. His Zanjutsu katas were flawless and effortless, lightning-fast without even so much as a whisper of shunpo or the release of his blade.

"Unsheathe, Mugen!" With an alarming amount of control over his movements the boy stopped short, only his hair even daring to stir as he stood stock still and ran his fingers down the back side of his zanpakuto's blade. As he did so it began to glow, not shifting much in size so much as it did in shape to form a perfectly straight black sword with no tsuba and an ethereal blue glow to the entire thing. Again he sprung into Zanjutsu katas; performing them with such ferocity that Lenalee was beginning to fear for his long ponytail's continued existence at its current length. "First Illusion, Hell's Insects!" With a swipe of the blade a series of nightmarish insects flew from its path, their slavering jaws gnashing as they headed straight for the officers present. They faded before they reached far enough, however, and down the line of assembled Captains and other Seated members of the 13 Court Guard Squads Captain Soifon was fixed with a heady glare from the Captain-Commander until she settled back into her seat with an inaudible grumble. After a few more movements the boy came to a finishing stance, his sword sealing back into its original form before he drew it across its sheath and then thrust it in with an air of finality.

"Dibs on the Kanda kid." 3rd Seat Madarame whispered as the boy left the field, excitement visible on his face at the prospect of having someone with that kind of mastery over Zanjutsu in the 11th Division's ranks. Lenalee nodded absently, watching the boy enter the building and become lost to sight in the shadows.

"He's completely inept at Kido of any kind beyond #3 or 4." Dredging Yuu Kanda's graduate file from her memory, Lenalee remembered thinking that the boy would be perfect for the 11th Division because of his impressive Zanjutsu and absolute inability to perform Kido. "As much as it pains me to say it, you can have him." Their whispered conversation got the two officers a sideways glance from Captain Hisagi, but it wasn't an admonishing one. The two continued to talk through the next several demonstrations, occasionally joined in conversation by Captain Hisagi when a graduate was too boring for even him to pay attention to. On the tattooed Captain's other side, Captain Komamura occasionally gave them disapproving looks when they got too loud. The day wore on, becoming increasingly warmer as it continued. The shadow of the building crept its way across the demonstration field as the graduates thinned; a list of them that Lenalee wanted specifically for her Division already a good dozen names long in the back of her mind. As the last person was called to demonstrate, a girl with shockingly chartreuse hair whose zanpakuto could grow massive flowers, the assembled officers stood and bowed to the girl. She bowed deeply as well before running inside with her shihakusho under one arm. Mentally, the girl's name was added to Lenalee's list of people that she wanted specifically for the 13th Division.

Teetering like they were drunk because of the pins-and-needles feelings in their legs, Lenalee and 3rd Seat Madarame leaned on each other to get to the door. They laughed, Lenalee less so, as Captain Abarai teetered and fell on Captain Kurosaki; both Captains cursing up a storm and resorting to throwing punches until they were forced apart by a relatively-unaffected Captain Komamura. After a few moments the two officers broke apart, nodding to each other in silent confirmation that they could, in fact, stand on their own legs. As the two talked somewhat amicably, Captain Hisagi joining in occasionally as they made their way out of the building, an unseated member of the 5th Division approached them with a clipboard and requested their personal picks for their Division. Captain Hisagi rattled off a rather short list of people with relatively impressive demonstrations, the only Vice-Captain of the small group following it up with her own, if not slightly longer, list. Ikkaku rattled off his list as well and the three split apart, saying terse goodbyes as they went off to do whatever they had planned with the rest of their day.

Silently, Lenalee scanned the sparse crowd for the long black ponytail of Yuu Kanda. The courtyard was filled with congratulatory families and a fair amount of graduates, but it was a large courtyard and plenty of people had sequestered themselves into large groups. She finally spied him standing off towards one of the buildings, effectively ignoring both the people around him and the young boy with light green hair that seemed to be chatting up a storm next to him. A sudden determination taking over her, the Vice-Captain made a beeline for both of them with swift steps that just bordered on a run. The young boy noticed her first, his chatter tapering off before ceasing as he watched her progress across the courtyard. As she approached the black-haired boy he pulled a bento from a bag at his side, sitting down on the hard dirt cross-legged to start his meal. He didn't pay her any attention as she stood there, looking down at him with a curious expression on her face.

"What do you want?" He asked after a few bites of his meal, his tone a snapping deep grate of a voice that seemed at odds yet completely at ease with the rest of him. The little green-haired boy, his uniform a little dusty like he had been tussling on one of the training fields, made a face at the Vice-Captain before high-tailing it for the dormitories. "I asked you a question, woman."

"There's something about you. I don't really know what it is, but I feel like I might have met you once before." A sudden wind blew through the courtyard, cooling the air just a little and making several people yelp as their papers or their hair were blown every which-way. Lenalee's pigtails blew like streamers, Kanda's ponytail doing the same in larger and more sluggish movements.

"Che." The black-haired boy muttered and went back to his food, not even sparing her a first glance as he scanned the courtyard with a suspicious eye. "You're still here?" He asked after a moment, finally turning a black glare on the girl through his sharply-cut bangs. There was no recognition in his eyes until he spied her Vice-Captain's badge, but even then he gave a curt nodding bow, taking another bite of his food without standing or even paying her much more attention.

"Yuu Kanda," Lenalee's tone was wistful, almost a little sad, as she spoke. The boy in question looked up, a careful mask of indifference sliding over his rather paramount confusion. "I've known your face for a long time, and I've known your name for a long time too. Maybe I knew you in life, but souls don't remember what life was like." Carefully, Yuu set his bento aside and set his chopsticks across the top before standing. He was much taller than the pigtailed Vice-Captain, and he looked down at her through his bangs with a scowl.

"Che. Maybe not remembering past lives is a good thing." The black-haired boy crossed his arms, the movement seeming as familiar to her as sitting down at her desk had been to Lenalee for as long as she had been Vice-Captain of the 13th Division. "If you dig you might not like what you find." The indifferent mask on the boy's face seemed to melt away into resignation, and he let his arms drop to his sides before he sighed heavily and picked up his unfinished meal and his bag. Lenalee smiled at him, the gesture tinged with a slight sadness that seemed familiar despite the completely strange circumstances she found herself in. Everything about the two of them meeting seemed strangely surreal, as though it had happened a dozen times before but just a little phased to the left. The Academy uniform, her rank, his sword, her shoes, they all created a feeling that everything was right but wrong with the situation.

"3rd Seat Madarame requested you for the 11th Division." Lenalee finally said, breaking the awkward silence between the two shinigami. Yuu responded with a triumphantly smug grin, shouldering his pack and resting his free hand on his sword's tsuba. "He says you'll do well there."

"They've still got an open 4th Seat, right?" The Vice-Captain nodded, a worried look coming over her features as she remembered how it was that Seated officers were chosen in that Division.

"You'll have to fight your way up to it, Kanda." She warned, reaching forward to lay a hand on his upper arm as he turned to head towards the dormitories. "The 11th Division prides themselves on being a Division full of people that live only to fight. They have so many tough people that they've filled all the Seated positions at least twice now."

"Che. I'll just have to beat them all then, won't I?" The smug grin still hadn't left his face, and the new shinigami graduate shook the Vice-Captain's hand off of his shoulder and began the trek towards the dormitories. Lenalee didn't follow, electing to turn and look out across the courtyard still full of graduating students and their families as they visited and received their Division assignments. The sun was just beginning to come down, the sky slowly becoming darker and the clouds beginning to light up in an impressive display. The Vice-Captain closed her eyes and clasped her hands in front of her body, allowing a slight smile to come to her face as she tasted words on her lips that seemed foreign and familiar like the rest of the day had.

"Welcome back, Kanda." The words conjured the boy's face, scowling as he pulled off a black coat and threw it at someone in a dusty beige cloak, grumbling and ignoring her as he headed straight down the hall. The memory was strange to her, confusing in that she knew it had never happened. But she took some comfort in the warmth that exuded from it, and sighed as she opened her eyes to look at the beginnings of a beautiful summer sunset once again.

-/-

* * *

**SUDDENLY THERE WAS KANDA. AND HE SAYS 'CHE' BECAUSE I LOVE WRITING THAT WORD. CHE CHE CHE CHE CHE. AND I'M PUTTING HIM IN 11****TH**** BECAUSE WHO DOESN'T WANT TO SEE HIM TORMENTED BY YACHIRU?**

**WHY AM I YELLING?**

**Regardless, I had a perpetual sadface while I was writing the part with Ukitake. Except the part where he's air-keyboarding an 80's power ballad. Because that image has been stuck in my mind for months and it deserves to be written into something. He seems like the kind of guy that would like 80's power ballads. **

**Next chapter will be parts of the Rescue Rukia arc, from Lenalee's point of view. I'll have to re-read those chapters before I write it which I'm not looking forward to because MY GOD THERE ARE SO MANY OF THEM AND I DON'T WANNA READ ICHIGO FIGHTING KENPACHI. AGAIN. PFFFFFFT. But Ukitake with Shihouin tech is awesome and I wanna make that shield and those spears to go along with my Ukitake cosplay but I already have so much junk I'm like a cosplaying packrat. **

**So yeah. Another Turn Back the Time Record bit, and then a chapter of… Well I'll think of it when I come to it I suppose. I need to write longer chapters. These are just 9.5 pages. **

**HEY! Before I forget, I ought to give y'all a timeline. The main chapters with Lenalee as a Vice-Captain are basically just about 20 years post-Winter War. She's been VC of the 13****th**** for about 19 of those. The Turn Back the Time Record chapters start about eleven years before the Rescue Rukia arc, and that time is divided into a year and some change in Rukongai, four years in the Academy, six years in the 13****th**** Division. After that is some Winter War stuff, and then finally promotion to Vice-Captain and some of the crazy antics afterwards. Like Ichigo becoming Captain of the 5****th**** Division and engaging in aggressive negotiations with Byakuya about having Rukia as his Vice-Captain. Aggressive negotiations are, of course, negotiations with a zanpakuto. **

**PEACE AND LOVE, YO~**

**LCR.**


	8. Night 8: Turn Back the Time Record 4

**Back in Black**

_Lt. Commander Richie_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own either Bleach or D Gray-man. Eyup.

**A/N: **I love this idea so much. Unfortunately it was born of writer's block. But still, it's a great idea in my opinion~ The adventures of Lenalee in Soul Society, should she be dead and in possession of a dual zanpakuto! Yeah!

_Night 8: Turn Back the Time Record Part 4

* * *

_

-/-

A bright light and a massive sound burst through the air, the sudden sensation of powerful Reiatsu immediately grabbing the attention of everyone around. Lenalee nearly dropped the teapot she was pouring tea for someone with, but even though she saved it tea still splashed onto several papers. The ink was dry enough that it didn't immediately bleed, but the startled girl still mopped it up as best as she could before following everyone else to the nearest windows. She arrived just in time to see a burst of light shoot apart into different parts of Seiretei, various different Reiatsu going with them in a cacophony of fairly strong clashing signatures. Without bothering to put the teapot down Lenalee bolted for the shoji door into the side garden. She toed into her shoes quickly with the tea sloshing at her side, taking a quick step with shunpo out of the side garden and right down to the edge of the 13th Division's lake. She was loathe to disturb her Captain at just past dawn, even having second thoughts about the entire situation, but broke into a run down the wooden walkway across the water anyway to come to a stop just outside of the open doorway that faced the shore. Setting the teapot aside as an afterthought, she sunk down to a kneeling position and bowed deeply.

"5th Seat Lee reporting, sir!" Lenalee couldn't see inside the small building for the bamboo slat curtains that hung in the doorway, but didn't dare brush them aside. "Ryoka have broken through the Shakonmaku into Seiretei!" Only silence greeted the young Seated officer, crickets chirping and frogs croaking in the slowly-strengthening dawn light. "Sir?" Her voice was uncertain-sounding to her, and she steeled it before she asked again. The second time a very loud snore answered her, and her face fell from its businesslike façade to a look full of resignation. With slow movements the 5th Seat stood, stooping to pick up the teapot before making her way down the thin wooden walkway towards shore. If Captain Ukitake had slept through the noise the Ryoka made breaking through the shield then there was no way that she was going to be able to wake him up. The teapot sloshed next to her as she stopped at the shore, holding it steady this time as she flash-stepped back to the office she had been serving tea in before she had run for the Captain. Her sudden appearance startled several people, but the majority were still busy at the window when she toed off her shoes and walked inside. In the distance alarms were going off, making an annoying background noise that seemed to simply drone on and on incessantly.

"You don't think this has to do with Rukia, do you?" As Lenalee went back to pouring tea for people the whispers began, gossip quickly overtaking actual facts as the thought of invaders fueled the fire. "They bring her back and she's charged with giving her powers to a human kid, and suddenly we've got reports of Ryoka running around Western Rukongai and someone breaks through the Shakonmaku a couple days after the alert that Captain Ichimaru responded to- maybe it's the kid she gave her powers to!" No one ever accused the lower-ranked Seated officers of being dumb, and some of the brighter minds were quickly piecing things together as the sun rose and painted the walls with dappled early sunlight. Rukia had been in the Division longer than Lenalee had even been in Rukongai, let alone the Seiretei, and she was an all-around well-liked person. She was the topic of nearly every discussion in the main building, and there wasn't a single person that hadn't stopped and listened to some conversation about her in the officer's kitchen.

"Ne, little Lena," Lenalee looked up as someone spoke, smiling as she realized it was 4th Seat Shiratori speaking from the direction of the sliding office door. "You're just serving tea- can you take something to the 10th Division for me? Hell Butterfly isn't fast enough, and someone left the cages open last night anyway. It'll take forever for me to catch one." The younger officer smiled at her superior, holding back giggles at her initial thought of how lazy he was being. She stood and crossed the room, trading her mostly empty teapot for a stack of files at least six inches thick and held together with some very large clips.

"Do you want these to go straight to Captain Hitsugaya?" Yoshi shook his head, thick hair falling into his eyes before he shook it right back out again. That action actually got Lenalee to laugh, and she shifted her grip on the files so that she wouldn't lose them or anything inside of them.

"He's probably out hunting Ryoka what with the threat level we're at, just leave them on his desk and maybe put a sticky note on them. He'll get them eventually." The 5th Seat nodded and headed for the open garden doors it seemed as though she had just come through moments before, toeing into her black metal shoes before skipping off to the front gate of the Division in a flash of shunpo. From there she flashed onto a roof in the 12th Division, only straying there for a second before she was off again with a jump. A ruckus seemed to be going on in the 11th Division when she passed through it, but that was the unfortunate norm when it came to that Division and she ignored it. With another jump of shunpo she found herself at the front gate of the 10th Division, nodding to the guards there before walking in.

Where the 13th Division was like one big garden in places, interspersed with groups of buildings and training fields, the 10th Division was its polar opposite. It was mostly buildings and full of large white tiles, the ground completely covered except for the occasional piece of aesthetic landscaping. It was a very utilitarian Division, the only things brown and green besides the shrubberies being the training fields and the small pocket gardens. To someone as used to the 13th as Lenalee was, the stark contrast was a little off-putting. The lack of greenery was unsettling, and besides the occasional shinigami running between buildings there wasn't much in the way of life. The 5th Seat made her way to the main offices of the 10th Division with a bit of urgency in her step, the alarms sounding throughout the Seiretei serving well to put her on edge. Her metal shoes clicked mechanically on the hard courtyard surface, their negligible weight and constant cool presence serving as a guarantee of safety to the young girl.

The cool interior of the main Division building was a welcome reprieve from the extremely warm courtyard. The sun had already risen above the horizon, and with the rising sun had come the heat of a very sweltering summer. The sky was a beautiful clear blue without a single cloud in sight, and as Lenalee passed them in the hallways several people bemoaned that fact. With her shoes in one hand and the files she had to deliver tucked under her other arm, the 5th Seat made her way to where she knew the Captain's office was supposed to be. It was the same in every main Division building, though the architecture changed from building to building depending on the personal tastes of the person in charge. Not looking where she was going, Lenalee suddenly smacked straight into someone and fell backwards. Her shoes skittered across the floor, small scuff marks appearing in the hardwood. The files under her arm dropped to the floor, nearly coming apart at the large clips that held them together. Both she and the person she had hit screamed in surprise, quickly getting up and saying apologies as they bowed deeply and then began picking up papers.

"Are you alright?" The woman the 5th Seat had hit asked as she gathered up files, stacking them haphazardly as Lenalee retrieved her shoes and knelt to help order the files together. "I wasn't looking where I was going, I'm sorry."

"It's alright, neither was I!" The two girls laughed, getting to their feet once they had cleared the floor completely of papers and folders. "Is Captain Hitsugaya here at the moment?" Lenalee asked, smiling brightly at the woman before her. She had mint green hair cut in a layered style, framing her face and falling down her back in gentle waves. Her eyes matched the color of her hair, but her furrowed eyebrows were a shocking bright blue.

"There were emergency Captain's and Vice-Captain's meetings called, I think. You just _barely _missed him and Vice-Captain Matsumoto." Both girls gave identical huffs of annoyance, dissolving into giggles as they realized what they had done. "15th Seat Masanori Hamano." A brilliant smile that stretched from ear to ear on the green-haired woman appeared, and she held out her hand as she introduced herself. Realizing her mistake she held out both hands and gestured to take a few of the files, accepting about half the pile before shaking hands with the pigtailed girl.

"5th Seat Lenalee Lee, 13th Division. Can you help me get these to Captain Hitsugaya's office?" Masanori nodded happily and the two made their way towards the Captain's office, chatting amicably as they walked. A few feet from the door the air seemed to get heavier, the sudden thickness of the atmosphere affecting the 15th Seat more than it did the 5th Seat. Her senses reaching out with curiosity, Lenalee furrowed her eyebrows together before releasing some of her own Reiatsu to level out the breathability of the air. Masanori nodded her thanks, joining her newfound friend in looking in the direction the Reiatsu had come from. It was in the general direction of the 11th Division, and made the air taste like sandpaper. With it came the tint of something else, another Reiatsu that seemed to be just as strong but extremely unrecognizable.

"Is that 3rd Seat Madarame's Reiatsu?" Masanori looked confused as she asked, her head tilting to one side like a befuddled puppy. "Who's he fighting?" Again Lenalee reached out with her senses, trying to get a read on just who it was that was fighting the 11th Division's 3rd Seat. The Reiatsu of the unknown assailant was powerful, bordering on the 3rd Seat's in sheer potency, but roiled with a certain blackness that didn't seem to make sense to the 5th Seat. She had never felt anything like it before, and would have remembered if she had.

"It must be one of the Ryoka." Lenalee bit her lip, worrying at the skin with her teeth for a moment before sighing heavily and pushing open the door to the 10th Division Captain's office. The sight that met her was not one she was expecting, and she made a face at the slight smell that accompanied it. It looked like a four-person party had been held here only hours before and there were bits of ice and a small tower of sake cups on the hardwood floor. Bottles were littered all over, several of them still uncorked and even more of them shoved between the cushions of the green couch in the corner. Gingerly, the two Seated women made their way over to Captain Hitsugaya's desk and sat their files down on the rather orderly surface. Lenalee opened a top drawer and retrieved a sticky note and a pen, sticking the note to the top of the pile of folders and writing a short explanation of what they were.

"Geez. Vice-Captain Matsumoto sure knows how to party." The 5th Seat looked up to see Masanori holding up something white with two fingers that looked suspiciously like uniform-issue men's fundoshi. "I think Vice-Captain Kira will be wondering where these are by the time his meeting is over." The two women burst into giggles, and the 15th Seat dropped the undergarments back onto the floor and toed them back under the table where she had presumably found them. Suppressing more laughter, they headed for the door and closed it behind them with the utmost of care. "Hey," Masanori began as they walked towards the front of the Division's main building. "You think Madarame will be alright?"

"I don't see why not. He's 11th Division _and _a 3rd Seat. He may as well be at the level of a Vice-Captain." A massive crash sounded through the air as Lenalee spoke, both the unknown Reiatsu and that of 3rd Seat Madarame spiking as the battle seemingly got more serious. The two women ran to the nearest window, pushing it open just in time to see a cloud of debris rise into the air from what appeared to be a broken wall. Wordlessly, Lenalee hoisted herself up onto the windowsill and jumped out into the courtyard. She dropped her shoes on the white tile with a disproportionate clang, toeing into them with a certain amount of urgency before turning to the window and addressing the 15th Seat that still stood there. "Find someone and make an official report- 3rd Seat Madarame and one of the Ryoka are fighting to the point where they've taken down at least one wall. Both of them are fairly strong and the Ryoka shouldn't be approached by anyone under the level of 3rd Seat. Got it?" Masanori nodded, watching as the 13th Division's 5th Seat disappeared in a flash of shunpo before turning tail and running into the 10th Division.

-/-

* * *

-/-

"Yoshi! Yoshi, where's Captain Ukitake?" A slightly confused look on his face, the 4th Seat looked up from his desk to see Lenalee hanging from his doorframe with a worried look on her face. He slowly shook his head, his eyebrows rising nearly into his hairline as her look got worse. The 5th Seat sank to the floor, her fingers still grasping at the edge of the shoji door to her superior's office. For the normally so formal and sweet 5th Seat to be this informal and demanding, especially with her immediate superior, something had to be wrong.

"He said he was going to be in bed today, but when I went to take him the paperwork he requested he wasn't there. You could try the 4th Division, maybe." Yoshi Shiratori blinked bemusedly as the pigtailed girl shook her head, looking rather hopeless despite the utter sanity of the situation. "Hey, little Lena, there isn't anything that could possibly be bad enough that the Captain would have to deal with it, is there?"

"The sealed storage room in Building 3-" the 5th Seat paused to gasp, her fingers clenched to the point that they were white around the doorframe. "The seal's been broken! Whatever was inside is gone!" Yoshi stood so fast that he banged his knee on his desk, swearing several times in a very loud voice before nearly jumping the low furniture and hauling the 5th Seat to her feet. Her black metal shoes scraped across the hardwood as she stood, and absentmindedly the girl reached down and removed the offending footwear.

"You sure?" As Lenalee nodded, the 4th Seat swore again and smacked his fist into the opposite wall. "We've got to track that stuff down!" Without warning the larger man grabbed his younger compatriot by the wrist and set off at a run down the hallway. Her long legs kept her at a good pace, but she still yelped as he tugged a little too hard when they rounded a corner.

It was privileged knowledge in the 13th Division when it came to what was stored inside that storage room. The doors and windows were all sealed with Bakudo spells so high that some people couldn't count that far, every surface seething with Reiatsu and a general feeling that you should just stay the hell away. Nobody under 5th Seat knew just what was in there, and even then you didn't get to know unless you asked nicely. It was the 13th Division's greatest secret, or at least one of them, and nobody needed to know it except those powerful enough to keep the things inside from getting stolen. Now the entire thing had been blown wide open and the things they were trying to protect had gone missing. The things in question were several pieces of powerful Shihouin technology, believed to be otherwise lost after the clan's head had defected over a hundred years previously.

"You head to the execution grounds; it doesn't matter whether the execution's started already or not. Someone has to tell the Captains that we've got powerful things stolen from the 13th Division and as of right now everyone needs to be on their guard." 4th Seat Shiratori all but kicked the front gates of the Division off their hinges as the two officers barreled through, narrowly missing one of the guards and making the other one scream like a woman in a way that would have been comical had it not been for the dire circumstances.

"What about you?" Lenalee asked, finally stopping and forcing her superior officer to stop with her. She toed into her shoes and scuffed them against the tiled walkway, leaving a long scrape in the stone. "I'm warning the Captains, what are you doing?"

"I'm finding Captain Ukitake, and if he's incapacitated then we had better hope like all hell that Captain Kyouraku isn't drunk off his ass this early in the morning." Lenalee nodded and made to do a leap of shunpo, before thinking better of it and crouching low to the ground. The Captain-Commander had declared a state of wartime and allowed zanpakuto use in the Seiretei and she was going to use it to the best of her ability.

"You are the wind in the butterfly's wings; you dance the waltz of the misty morning, Dark Boots!" With the release command spoken her shoes erupted up her legs in a fit of black tendrils, reaching and forming heels and hoops and pointed toe caps just as they created armor at the knees and bands around her mid-thighs. As an afterthought the disks that floated at her ankles came into being, just in time to keep up with her jump into the air that cracked the stone beneath her launch. Yoshi disappeared in a flash of shunpo, his search for the 13th Division Captain beginning with gusto.

From roughly three hundred feet in the air the Seiretei looked much different, parts of it smoking and other parts apparently on fire. A good portion of several Divisions was leveled due to the release of Captains Kurotsuchi, Komamura and Tousen's Bankai. Lenalee hung upside down from the air for a fraction of a second, the reversing of gravity a slightly disorienting feeling before she kicked off of the air and left a loud crack behind her. She twisted and twirled through the air, reveling in the feeling of freedom and forgetting the unfortunate circumstances that she had gained it under. Her pigtails whipped and lashed behind her as she came to a sudden stop above the 1st Division's buildings, her purple eyes growing wide at the sight before her. From the Sokyoku rose a massive bird, like a legendary phoenix of disproportionate size, and it seemed to rear its head and scream before leveling its fiery eyes at the execution frame. The air crackled with the Reiatsu of the powerful weapon, nearly pushing the 5th Seat from her solid space of open air. It was insufferably amazing, casting light and power everywhere like it was nothing.

With a crack Lenalee jumped at the execution grounds, alighting on the hard ground as best as she could without causing any damage or commotion. She appeared just behind and to the left of the Captain-Commander, immediately coming to a knee and bowing her head as low as she could. As close as she was, the heat and power of the Sokyoku made her nearly choke on her words as she opened her mouth to speak. Her Dark Boots shrunk back down to their original size in what almost seemed like fear, but the cool reassurance that they exuded never ceased.

"My deepest apologies for interrupting, Captain-Commander sir, but a sealed storage room in the 13th Division has been broken into and the things inside have been stolen." The 5th Seat's words were almost stolen themselves by the roar of the flames above, but the wizened eyes of the Captain-Commander still just barely moved to look at her. The massive flames set the officer on edge, her shoulders tensing and a tightness coming to her legs that she hadn't felt nearly since she had died.

"You would not come directly to me unless this was a grave situation- what was inside that storage room that it had to be sealed?" The old voice of the Captain-Commander was patient, but it held a bite that was befitting of the man that had commanded the Seiretei for a thousand straight years and had no intention of stopping any time soon. Lenalee opened her mouth to explain the Shihouin technology that the Captain had kept stored there, but a fierce cry cut her off. Regardless of the fiery bird above and the light it exuded, the 5th Seat looked up at the spectacle unfolding on the execution scaffold. The Sokyoku had stopped, it seemed, and a boy stood there holding a sword as large as he was in one hand with Rukia Kuchiki tucked under his arm. Lenalee didn't have time to blink before the Sokyoku promptly exploded, flames and shards flying everywhere in a burst of Reiatsu and yells of surprise. Surveying the execution grounds with wide eyes, the 5th Seat finally found it in her to blink several times to clear her dry eyes.

Well, at least now she knew where both her Captain and the stolen Shihouin tech had gotten off to.

-/-

* * *

**WOW. So yeah, SHORTEST CHAPTER YET. But I just couldn't think of anything else to write without making it seem silly or forced and decided to just end it here because quite frankly no matter how much of the Rescue Rukia arc I read I will never be able to read all of it because I have no attention span when it comes to reading Bleach beyond one chapter a week. **

**Next chapter starts an actual plot, methinks. Having this finished in like thirteen or fourteen chapters would be nice, but there's no guarantees of that from me here so I suppose you guys can just kinda live with that. **

**You know, Kira has a very unfortunate habit of stripping while he's drunk. That's not particularly a good thing, but I really don't think anyone's complaining. Here's the thing, though! He didn't strip buck nekkid at that party, he got dared by Matsumoto to pull off his fundoshi without untying his hakama. I'm pretty sure Shunsui was present at that party too, though by all means he could have been at a completely different one. **

**Did you know that it is in fact possible to fold a giant crane out of a pair of hakama pants? It's a little confusing at first, but once you get the general idea down it isn't that hard to do. Nobody needs to know why I tried this or where I got the idea. **

**So yeah. The only person we're missing here appears to be Lavi, doesn't it? **

**PEACE, YO.**

**~LCR**


	9. Night 9: DEATH 49, The Growing Lion MIX

**Back in Black**

_Lt. Commander Richie_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own either Bleach or D Gray-man. Eyup.

**A/N: **I love this idea so much. Unfortunately it was born of writer's block. But still, it's a great idea in my opinion~ The adventures of Lenalee in Soul Society, should she be dead and in possession of a dual zanpakuto! Yeah!

_Night 9: DEATH 49 [The Growing Lion MIX]_

_

* * *

-/-_

"Mana!" The whole Academy practice yard was watching as two shinigami walked across it, one looking for all the world like he didn't want to be there and the other both important and on a mission. A few girls, their red uniforms devoid of any kind of dust pertaining to the training they were supposed to be doing, pointed towards one of the corridors leading inside. Her pigtails whipping into the face of her companion, the shinigami in charge took off after the boy she was looking for. Her companion grumbled but ran along with her, his dark blue yukata and hastily-tied hakama giving the appearance that he had just woken up but the sword looped across his chest on a thin cord marking him as a shinigami.

"Woman, I told you I don't want to get involved!" Vice-Captain Lee didn't listen to the 9th Seat of the 11th Division, still dragging the larger male along behind her down corridors and through doorways. He didn't make any protest beyond that, however, and seemed resigned to women much smaller than him dragging him everywhere. Lenalee slid open a classroom door just a little in passing and peeked inside, not recognizing the head of messy black hair she was looking for. Before Yuu could catch his breath they were off like a shot again, leaving slight scuffs and divots in the hardwood from the Vice-Captain's shoes in their wake.

"C'mon Yuu, I know you keep saying you hate the kid but I don't believe that for a second!" The ponytailed man yelped as he was yanked around a corner, nearly falling on his face as his superior officer pulled on his arm with a surprising amount of force for her tiny body.

"Don't call me by my first name!" He protested, regaining his footing just in time to nearly lose it again as he was yanked out a doorway and onto a covered walkway. A set of steep stairs faced them, and the 11th Division member adopted a sour look that could give any one given by Captain Kuchiki a run for its money. "Like hell I'm-" he began to protest his continued abuse, but he quickly found himself trying desperately not to fall flat on his face going up the stairs. "You are _insane_." Lenalee only smiled at the grim look that he leveled at her when they reached the top of the stairs, her grip on his wrist getting a little tighter.

"You're my friend, and Mana is my friend. I think you really should be there when I give him the news." Yuu scoffed, rolling his eyes at the Vice-Captain. She chose to ignore that, starting off at a much saner pace down the large hallway. Shoji doors lined one wall, entering into unused classrooms and the occasional office. The whole second floor of the building seemed a little eerie, only natural light from the large windows in the classrooms illuminating the hallway. Dust motes glowed in the morning sun, drifting slowly and surely towards the floor until the air shifted around the two shinigami. Lenalee slid open each door as she went, peering inside each unused room with interest in her features. None of the rooms held her elusive target as she went, and her determination began taking on a shade that was making Yuu Kanda just a little uneasy.

"He's not here." The 9th Seat said, trying in vain to wrench his wrist from the grip of the 13th Division's Vice-Captain. She turned a _look _on him, and it was an indescribably clear one that made him feel just slightly apologetic that he ever doubted her and sorry he had hurt her feelings. The 11th Division officer gritted his teeth as Lenalee turned away, cursing himself for letting someone he barely knew beyond a vague feeling of remembrance somehow get this much control over him. Her hand finally letting go of Yuu's wrist and leaving him to rub at the red handprint there, the Vice-Captain slid open the last classroom door with a slight squeak of wood on wood. In the center of the room sat an Academy student, his back to the door and a massive mane of white fur whipping and roiling around him as he drew shapes in the air with the claws of his left hand. The boy's black hair stood up in the back, defying gravity for some unknown reason much like the strips of white fabric that fluttered in an unfelt wind behind him.

"Mana." The boy jumped as Lenalee spoke, twisting around and pointing all five of his claws in the direction of her voice. The silver mask that usually fastened the front of his cloak swiveled, along with a large amount of fur that was usually a hood, to look as well. The effect was rather unsettling, actually, and the blank gaze of the black lenses in the mask seemed to bore into everything.

"What do you want?" Mana's voice was full of anger as he snapped his words, fully intending to hurt the feelings of the Vice-Captain in front of him. His released zanpakuto's silver mask turned lethargically to look at its master, tilting to one side as if to ask why he was being so cruel. His black eyes met the blank look with a glare, before turning back to the girl at the door. "Are you here to ruin my life, _again_?" Lenalee's face fell before adopting a slight smile, a lot of hurt hiding behind it that threatened to show through her purple eyes. One of her hands whipped out and grabbed Yuu by the ear as he tried to move quietly away, making him yelp in surprise and shout a few curses as he drug him into the classroom with her.

"The Onmitsukido has come to the decision that you may be allowed to graduate this year instead of forcing you to continue for the next three years in classes you've already mastered." Lenalee got right to business, kneeling on the hardwood floor of the classroom and pulling Yuu down with her. He grumbled and rubbed at his ear when she let go, but otherwise didn't make a move to try and escape. She was faster than him anyway.

"What's the catch?" Mana demanded, twisting to his knees and planting the tips of his claws into the wood at his side. Lenalee sighed in a long breath, blinking several times as that same sad-looking smile stayed on her face. A steady silence of anticipation stretched between them, growing denser by each eternity of a second.

"You're being assigned to the 8th Division under Captain Kyouraku, in the 7th Seated officer's position." The boy immediately swore, splinters flying everywhere as he ripped his claws from the floor in a violent movement and drug them across the hardwood in an act of intentional defacement. He continued to swear, words he shouldn't even begin to understand spewing from his mouth full of rage and vigor. He was a sight to see, the long white fur around his neck whipping and roiling like it was also angered. The boy looked no more than thirteen at the oldest but he cursed like someone who'd been in the 11th Division for longer than even Captain Zaraki.

"This is your fault!" Mana finally rounded on Lenalee and Yuu, pointing a long claw at her accusingly. The action made the 9th Seat bristle, his hand straying towards his sword before the small woman at his side grabbed his ear again. "If you hadn't meddled and gone looking for me this never would have happened! I don't _want _to be a shinigami! I just want to go _home_!"

Lenalee stilled at his words, her hand falling from Yuu's ear in a slow motion. They seemed to pull at something in her that she couldn't quite recall, and the sensation of forgotten déjà vu was beginning to irk her something terrible. But the entire situation suddenly felt very _wrong _to her, as though every fiber of her being was trying to tell her why it was that he shouldn't be pressed into service and just barely failing to do so.

"You attacked several high-ranking members of the 13 Court Guard Squads with intent to kill. You should feel lucky that you weren't executed." Mana stilled as Lenalee spoke, before throwing his clawed hand out to one side. All the pure white fur and trailing cloth, every piece of armor and the entirety of the silver mask, seemed to suck itself inward into the palm of his hand before sealing back into the shape of a regular-size katana with a star-shaped tsuba. This the black-haired boy sheathed, and he drew the entirety from the himo of his Academy uniform and threw it to the ground in front of him. The sword slid a few feet, coming to a stop just in front of the Vice-Captain. A long beat of stillness passed through the room, tense and full of hostility that lurked just beneath the surface.

"The hell do you think you're doing, you dumbass bean sprout?" Lenalee and Mana both looked at Yuu, surprised as he spoke. His voice was a low growl, full of rage towards the young boy. "You're throwing away your strength just because you don't want to play by the rules?" In a few movements the 11th Division officer was on his feet, kicking the sword back at its owner with poorly-concealed hostility. "You're nothing but a coward, afraid of moving forward in life!"

"I'll shave you bald you son of a bitch!" In a clamor of limbs the young boy was on his feet, his zanpakuto clutched in one hand and the other throwing the sheath across the room in a careless movement. The two were at each other's throats in an instant, sparks flying as they attempted to physically injure the other. Lenalee sighed heavily as she watched the spectacle unfold, exasperation at the unexplainable rivalry the two had somehow locked themselves into sinking in. She leaned a little to the left to dodge as Mana went flying past her, hitting the wall and leaving a dent before yelling in anger and running at his opponent once again. The display of swordsmanship between the two was certainly impressive, far past what the Vice-Captain could claim mastery of. Blades clashed in rapid succession, the young Academy student doing a surprisingly good job of holding his own against the Zanjutsu master he faced.

Fights like these between the two were far from rare. If Yuu Kanda got within a spirit mile of Mana then it would end in a fight unless Lenalee got between the two of them and forced them to stop. She had figured that she would be able to stop them in time, but taking a calm look at the spectacle before her she began to rethink her decision. Mana was angry, much more so now that the Vice-Captain had told him where he would be assigned in the Seiretei. His hatred of shinigami was inexplicable, but whatever that hatred was it ran terribly deep. The two swordsmen clashed again, the older and stronger Yuu leaning his weight into the fight to make the smaller Academy boy falter. But instead the boy lashed out with his foot, taking the 9th Seat by surprise and breaking his stance just enough to let up on his target. With a stumble from both fighters they split apart, neither breathing too heavily but a definite strain passing between them.

As the two fought, sparks flying from their swords in a surprising display, the Vice-Captain took note of a quickly approaching Reiatsu. In a flash a man knelt just behind and to the right of her, his head bowed and his uniform that of a messenger. Lenalee acknowledged him with a nod, watching the fight carefully in case she found the need to stop them both.

"Captain Kurotsuchi requests your presence in the 12th Division's monitoring station. Captain Ukitake is also present." The Vice-Captain turned to look at the messenger, bright smile lighting up her features from the somber calculating look she had worn before. Under his hat, the messenger looked like he might be turning red.

"Get down!" She suddenly yelled, and the messenger dove out of the way just in time to dodge Yuu as he flew into the wall and busted a hole through it. The 11th Division officer began laughing as he extracted himself from the splintered wood and wall pieces, his sword gripped in one hand as he pulled pieces of wood from his clothes and hair.

"Not bad kid, you've been practicing!" With a yell he threw himself at his quarry again, a powerful downward strike heading straight for Mana's head. The messenger picked himself up off the floor, returning to his bow as Lenalee stood and brushed off her legs and short skirt. The bright orange scarf she had tied around the top of her white obi drooped a little, and she tightened it and tucked the knot back in to let the two long ends trail at her side.

"Inform Captain Kurotsuchi that I'll be along shortly." Without waiting to watch the messenger go, the Vice-Captain turned to the two swordsmen and adopted a very resolute look. She wasted no time before grabbing the person nearest to her and yanking them backwards. Mana stumbled back and into the same hole Yuu had formed in the wall, knocking all the way through into the next room with a startled yell. Yuu came to a stop, albeit reluctantly, sheathing his zanpakuto across his back in a fluid motion before sinking to a kneeling position in front of the superior officer. With his legs still sticking through the wall and his head resting on the floor in the next room, Mana groaned and swore loudly.

"I can take him!" The situation would have been almost slapstick if there hadn't been swords and murderous intent involved, and Lenalee sighed deeply before looking back and forth between the two combatants. She disliked using her authority to break them up, but sometimes it was the only way to do so.

"9th Seat Kanda, return to the 11th Division barracks." When the ponytailed officer scoffed quietly she reached down and pulled on the long ponytail, making him yelp in surprise. His unfortunate exposure to Vice-Captain Kusajishi had left him otherwise callous to his hair being pulled, and he didn't react beyond that. "Mana, I'm sorry it had to come to this. Don't punish the people around you for something you can't change." Mana swore again, but made no move to get up. Lenalee let go of the 9th Seat's ponytail and moved to the door, turning once again to look between the two boys with a careful eye. "Please don't start fighting again." In a few steps of shunpo she was gone, down the stairs and out into the open air of the Seiretei. True to her orders she felt Yuu's Reiatsu head in the direction of the 11th Division at a rapid pace, and with a small bit of relief the diminutive woman flipped off of a roof at a pace too fast for the naked eye to see as she rocketed towards the 12th.

The 12th Division always had a slight stench about it. It was a background smell, just barely there, but it was sweet and cloying while still smelling like rot. It was the smell of creatures decaying in their own flesh, of old screams and a thousand combinations of every poison and chemical known to man. Something about the 12th Division always made the hair on the back of Lenalee's neck stand on end, and she hated the feeling of uneasiness that she couldn't help but contract when she had to visit. The monitoring station was in the main building of the Research department, three floors below ground and full of people at any given time of day. Arriving in a rush of shunpo a small man with slightly green skin greeted her, wearing the Research and Development Institute's traditional white smock. He had a horn growing from the top of his head, and a small rubber ball had been shoved onto the sharp point to dull it.

The small man, Gamu Narako, led her with very few words to the elevator in the main building and then through several corridors to the main observation pits. The massive room was dark, red lights in the ceiling reducing the glare on the large monitors to absolute zero. The Vice-Captain nodded to several people she knew in passing, following her guide along the raised metal walkway to where the Captains stood. Captain Kurotsuchi was yelling something at a man in the area below, watching as a diagram on the main screen came up in full color. Lenalee greeted her own Captain with a smile, receiving a soft one in return before bowing to the 12th Division Captain.

"Vice-Captain Lee, as you requested sir." Gamu's voice croaked like a frog's, and he swiftly made himself scarce as the painted Captain of the 12th turned to fix the small woman with a glare.

"Finally!" The man looked a hair's breadth from throwing his arms up in exasperation and killing everything for sport, but he abstained and instead cracked his neck to one side before gesturing to the main screen. "Do you have even the slightest idea as to what that is?" Lenalee turned to look, her hands coming up to grip the rails as she leaned forward in curiosity. The diagram looked like your typical description of how the Human Realm and Spirit Realm were situated in relation to each other, but there seemed to be a small third area between the two that didn't usually exist. The Vice-Captain quickly put the pieces together, turning to look at her Captain before addressing Captain Kurotsuchi.

"The Valley of Screams has formed again. Closing of the area is under the purview of the 13th Division, unless I'm mistaken." Captain Ukitake nodded his confirmation on the subject, his arms crossed inside his sleeves in a stoic manner. "It's formed quickly; the last time was just around the Winter War. Doesn't it usually take around a hundred years?"

"It's also unusually small and has stayed at a constant size for the past few hours. We've had the formation of the Valley of Screams under surveillance for a day now and it has yet to expand any farther than this." Captain Kurotsuchi promptly ignored the Vice-Captain's query, turning back to the monitors instead. "Who has the last twelve hours of readouts for Reiatsu spikes in the Human World?" His question was short and clipped, seeming more like an order than anything else. A large man, nearly spilling out of his chair, raised a hand as he continued to work. "Don't just sit there and rot then, put them up on the screen!" The diagram of the Spirit Realm and Human Realm with the Valley of Screams between them was immediately replaced with a diagram of the Human Realm. A good two dozen red spots peppered the map, appearing everywhere from Russia to South America and on every continent between. Unsurprisingly, there was one smack dab in the center of Japan.

"That's quite a few places to search, Captain Kurotsuchi." The Captain in question looked at Lenalee like she was stupid, a patronizing glare in his eyes as he turned the look on Captain Ukitake as though he couldn't believe that the pigtailed girl was actually his Vice-Captain.

"Remove the spikes that are accounted for by deployed shinigami!" A good three quarters of the spots immediately blinked out of existence, leaving only a few peppering the globe with vast spaces between them. One was near the western coast of Africa, another in an area that looked like Finland. There were two in Mexico and one in the Antarctic, the last one being the one in Japan. "Now the ones that can be attributed to Substitutes!" Both of the spots in Mexico, the spot in Africa and the spot in Finland disappeared. The only two left were the one in Japan and the one in Antarctica, and through the background din of people shouting information to each other Lenalee could almost hear the Captain of the 12th Division grumbling to himself about the hole in the Ozone layer.

"Zoom in on the spike in Japan, if you will." The order came from Captain Ukitake, and the large man in charge of the main screen hesitated for a moment before complying. The white-haired Captain stepped forward and surveyed the screen carefully, his hands coming out of his sleeves to grasp the rails. "What city are we looking at?" The aerial view of the large city was a little disorienting, but the spike was coming from the general area of a small park near the outskirts of the city.

"Karakura, Captain!" This time Captain Kurotsuchi really did throw his hands up in exasperation, but the clown-like man still abstained from killing everyone. Instead he began to grumble darkly, storming down the walkway to the elevator at the opposite end. Captain Ukitake turned to his Vice-Captain, her bemused expression looking a little ominous in the low lighting of the monitoring station. One of his hands landed on top of her head and she blinked widely, blowing black bangs from her face.

"You can handle finding the Memory Rosary, can't you?" Lenalee nodded, her Captain's smile infectious. "You don't need to do much more than find it, protecting it until it fades is really only needed if there's an ulterior motive at work. That doesn't happen very often."

"Should I take a team with me?" Lenalee asked, ducking out from under her Captain's hand with a light giggle as she gestured for him to follow her to the elevator. The two 13th Division officers walked at a good pace down the raised walkway as they spoke, side-by-side on the small space. When they entered the elevator the quiet was almost deafening after the din of the monitoring station.

"That shouldn't be necessary. Cooperating with the shinigami stationed in the sector is a good idea, though. You'll also have to have a limiter put on you by the Kido corps before you leave, but you already knew that one." Captain Ukitake paused, looking thoughtful as he contemplated the metal tiles that made up the ceiling of the elevator. "I would send a lower-seated officer, but I think this will be a good experience for you." Lenalee smiled at her Captain, getting his attention with a start as the doors opened on the main floor of the building. In identical steps of shunpo they stood outside, papers fluttering on desks behind them from the velocity they achieved. The open air smelled like the rest of the 12th, and the light stench was enough to make both officers of the 13th want to leave as soon as possible.

"I'm correct in guessing I have an immediate deployment, sir?" The Vice-Captain looked up at her superior, and he nodded absently. Lenalee bit her lip at the vacant look Captain Ukitake seemed to have adopted, laying a hand on his shoulder gently to try and get his attention. With a slight jump the man reached into his sleeve and pulled something out, holding it out to his Vice-Captain with a certain amount of authority. It was a good luck charm, the red silk a little worn around the edges and the paper a little yellowed with age, but still in very good condition.

"Be careful, Lenalee. That's an order." The stern tone of her Captain's voice made the Vice-Captain pause, accepting the charm with both hands and carefully tucking it into the front fold of her shihakusho. A beat of silence passed between the two before she leaned forward, catching Captain Ukitake in a tight hug and burying her face into his chest. His presence was like that of a parent, comforting and warm despite the cold and disgusting-smelling surroundings that were the 12th Division.

"Of course I will." She mumbled into his chest, before stepping back and smiling up at her Captain. He nodded, still grim around the edges, but the softness was returning to his features as she wordlessly reassured him. "Don't worry, I'll be fine! If anything I should be the one worrying!" At Captain Ukitake's confused expression, Lenalee's smile turned slightly teasing. "I'll be worrying the whole time that you're doing my paperwork, and you know I don't want you to do that!" Before the Captain could rebuff the statement she was gone, a step of shunpo taking her towards the Senkaimon at a lightning pace.

-/-

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-/-

Finding the Memory Rosary was a bit less like a mission and more like a light vacation. Officially, Vice-Captain Lee was in the Human Realm on a mission that classified her as 'assist only' when it came to Hollow attacks. There were plenty of shinigami stationed in Karakura since the Winter War anyway, and she was to be called in as a last resort. But Lenalee Lee was not on a mission that required her to do much, and as such she had time to perfect her gigai to her standards. Usually in Seiretei she didn't get dressed up for much beyond officer's functions, and if she went to festivals she didn't even do that. The extent of her nice clothes was extremely formal kimono and obi and how to tie and accessorize them accordingly. Therefore when presented with a nice gigai by the 12th Division upon entrance to the Human Realm, there was really one thing on her mind. Vice-Captain Matsumoto would be so proud of her one-track mind.

With an adequate amount of shopping out of the way and her hair and nails done, the Vice-Captain began her walk to the park where the Reiatsu spike had been. The Human Realm was a very fascinating place, full of sights and loud noises that Lenalee hadn't really been privy to before. She had only been assigned to the Human Realm twice before, and each time was an assist of some sort for shinigami overwhelmed by Hollows. She never stayed very long and never really got to experience the world from a gigai. Cars, for one, were a completely new experience. After she wandered out into traffic before the walk signal once and nearly got turned into a smear on the road she paid much more attention to what she was doing and where she was going.

Her childlike wonder at everything around her drew a few funny looks from the people she passed, but as she made her way out into more residential areas the Vice-Captain had taken in just about everything she could. Her looks of wonder were turned to interest at the houses she passed, many with nice gardens and quite a few within just blocks of small parks full of playground equipment and trees. The Human Realm was especially pretty in the summer, it seemed, and was at such odds with the Seiretei because of the simple presence of greenery everywhere. It was like the 13th Division only larger, flowers and trees everywhere and making so many interesting smells.

It turned out that the heels that the Vice-Captain wore with her outfit were not the most conducive to walking across several spirit miles worth of city. They were purple suede and thigh-high, with ruffles around the top of the boot. They went nicely with her pink skirt and her lilac and teal striped top, but that was about where the functionality ended. She jingled a little as she walked; her necklaces and bracelets brushed against each other with a clatter of beads and wooden bangles with a small clink of metal every now and again. Her silver cross hung on a chain around her neck and her gold hair ties were fixed in her hair, though her long pigtails were now masses of curls that reached to her shoulder blades in trendy spirals. The Vice-Captain bit back curses as she looked at the steeply inclined road that led past the park she was looking for, looking down to fix her boots with a heavy glare. They were pretty enough that she couldn't bear to stay mad at them, though, and so she started walking.

The park, once she reached it, was nice and shady. The sun dappled the grass though the leaves and made beautiful patterns, everything a vibrant color even in the shadows. A few local children played on the structures, shouting as they fought with swords made of sticks. The swing set was situated under a large tree, and Lenalee settled into one of the plastic seats with a light sigh of relief. She pulled her phone from her purse with a little difficulty, opening the device with a little more and finally just barely managing to work the keys with the decorative purple acrylic nails she wore. They were light purple with white French tips and sparkles, encrusted with green rhinestones and little black butterflies that made pushing phone keypads somewhat difficult. The Vice-Captain gently swayed back and forth on the swing as she accessed the radar the 12th Division guy that had given her the phone had explained before she left. With the tip of a nail she told it to sweep the area, and the purple phone beeped before showing only one dot- her.

"You suck." In a fit of childishness she stuck her tongue out at the display before flipping the phone shut. She tossed it once into the air, catching it by the metal charm of the 13th Division's stylized Summer Snowflake and stowing it back into her purse. Lenalee kicked backwards and grasped the chains of the swing, her swinging becoming more pronounced as she pumped her legs until she was flying fairly high. The urge to jump off and see how far she could go before she landed was almost irresistible, but one look at the grassy ground and then at her heels and she thought better of it. Her Dark Boots, when heels, could take just about anything she did to them. But these new boots were liable to break if she landed on them too hard, and the last thing she wanted to do was walk to her temporary lodgings with a broken shoe.

At the apex of a swing Lenalee spotted something moving. It was just beyond the border of the park, blocked by a tree and the shade it created, but the flicker of shadow was oddly just past human. The Vice-Captain's phone began beeping erratically in her purse, and she dug her heels into the ground regardless of whether or not they broke and pulled it out with fumbling fingers. She flipped it open just in time to see a massive Reiatsu spike go up in the park, but she neither saw nor felt anything. With an exasperated sigh she flipped the phone shut, stuffing it back in the bag with the air of someone fed up with a glitching piece of hardware to the point that they no longer cared to get angry. It continued to beep, getting more urgent with every series of three. The Vice-Captain reached into her bag to shut it off when she finally felt it- the faintest hints of Reiatsu on the edge of her conscious senses. It was strange, not completely there yet whole in every sense; the feeling was different from a Hollow in almost every sense but still felt as though it had a hole through it. Lenalee sat her purse down on the grass and crouched next to it, digging through the things she kept there to look for her Soul Candy. She pulled it from the bag just as she became aware of something standing over her, and her gaze was met with white as she looked up.

Lenalee had never seen a real Blank before. The ripped white form was a bit unsettling at first, but it was the sightless red pointed head that really unnerved her. It didn't do anything but give the impression that it was staring, the edges of its white form fluttering in a nonexistent wind. Silently, the Vice-Captain popped a Soul Candy into her mouth and exploded out of her gigai and onto the grass. Her gigai immediately gathered up the purse and stood, looking to the shinigami for instruction before running for the entrance to the park when Lenalee pointed. While her gigai had curled hair and acrylic nails with nice makeup the Vice-Captain looked like she always did, her long black pigtails reaching her lower back and her Dark Boots firmly on her feet. From the tree line at the back edge of the park came several more Blanks, peeking out from behind trees and fading through the underbrush like ghosts. They quickly grew in numbers, completely unnoticed by the children still at play. Within minutes the park was full of the white bodies, just enough space between them to maneuver without having to touch the light and airy-looking bodies. Several curious-looking Blanks began to circle the Vice-Captain, and she attempted a low-level Kido spell on them only succeeding in making one Blank look as confused as something with no face could.

"You are the wind in the butterfly's wings; you dance the waltz of the misty morning, Dark Boots!" In a green flash the Vice-Captain jumped into the air and twirled around to view the park. Through the tree cover she could see easily forty of the white bodies, though the leaves in the way made counting difficult. Curiosity took over as she felt out with her senses, examining the feeling of the Reiatsu that the Blanks leaked like broken faucets. They milled about as though confused, weaving around each other and the trees with a certain amount of grace. As she watched them Lenalee shook the leaves and twigs from her rapid escape from her hair. They floated gently to the ground from her vantage point upside-down above the park, twisting in the light wind that blew through.

"Hey! Leave me alone, thank you very much!" Lenalee's attention snapped to her gigai, standing at the edge of the park. Four or five Blanks surrounded her, looming and looking curious despite their lack of faces. "You won't like what I do to you if you don't step off, thank you very much!" With a sigh the Vice-Captain made a light jump before twisting and falling to the pavement just outside of the circle of Blanks. One kick knocked one out of the way, and another scattered the white forms to expose a very angry-looking gigai. The mod soul inside sneered in an unladylike fashion, but still nodded its thanks to the Vice-Captain. With their attention on each other neither noticed the subtle ripple in the air, or when the Blanks suddenly darkened in color and began to surge from the park with an alarming amount of hostility in their actions. They did, however, notice when grasping hands reached for them in a suddenly very alarming quantity and pulled at their hair and clothes.

"Get back!" Lenalee spun into a kick, the pointed end of her boots flying into the side of a Blank. She carried through with no difficulty and had to adjust for the lack of something to kick very quickly, but became used to the concept of kicking something incorporeal in just a few attacks and began destroying the white figures fairly easily. They disappeared in bursts of wind, but they simply wouldn't stop coming.

"The lady said to back off!" From the Vice-Captain's left came a man's voice, somewhere in a deeper range and full of rage. Several Blanks disappeared into nothingness as the man slashed through them, his fighting style close and personal due to the small knife his zanpakuto took the form of. He ducked under grabbing arms and twisted, slashing through three of the spirits before jumping over one and stabbing it in the back as he landed. His hair was red and held back by a black headband that was tied in the back. As he turned Lenalee caught of a glimpse of an eyepatch covering one of his eyes, the straps reaching back to go around both of his ears in an X shape. She ducked under several grabbing arms and kicked out, her momentum carrying her through three of the spirits before she jumped into the air and twisted to fall in a corkscrew attack towards the ground. Blanks flew everywhere as she landed, cracks forming in the asphalt below her as she impacted the ground before jumping again and kicking out at the white figures. Her orange scarf flapped and fluttered behind her with her pigtails as she sped through the white crowd twirling and spinning in a dance of destruction.

Coming to a pause, the Vice-Captain suddenly felt a presence at her back. She didn't have to look to know that it was the other shinigami, his stance fluid with both hands held in front of him in a ready position. She reached back suddenly and used his shoulders as leverage, flipping over him and twisting to shoot forward and spear several Blanks before jumping off of the air and slicing through several more. The small knife seemed to be doing the man absolutely no good, and Lenalee watched with vague interest as he paused and held it out in front of him with his free hand clasped on the pommel.

"Grow, Tessei!" In a flash of white the knife was replaced with a small black and white hammer, which he spun between his fingers as he drew it back over his shoulder. Without warning it suddenly snapped out to a massive size and he grabbed the handle with a second hand, swinging it in a massive arc to smash a good dozen Blanks into the ground. The spirits began to disperse as he continued to swing the hammer, the back draft from each swing blowing through the park and making the kids still playing there scream. In mere moments the entire area was clear, what Blanks that hadn't been destroyed having disappeared into the foliage once again. Lenalee dropped to the ground and sealed her boots, losing a few inches of height as she did so. She scanned the area for her gigai, her brow furrowing as she couldn't find it. Quickly growing worried, she called out the name of the Soul Candy several times. The growing feeling of déjà vu she felt at the other shinigami's zanpakuto pushed to the back of her mind as she searched.

A yell sounded from the bottom of the hill the park was situated on, and the Vice-Captain ran to the corner of the road to look down the steep incline. Her gigai stood at the bottom of the road, waving up to her and jumping. She immediately ran for it, skipping and stumbling for a moment as she jumped over a rock on the sidewalk. As she reached the fake body she held out a hand, fading into the body with a bit of a jump as she high-fived the form. With a cough she dislodged the Soul Candy from her throat and fed it back into the dispenser with a little fumbling due to her nails.

"Who was that who helped me?" She mused out loud, pulling her phone from her purse and flipping it open. It showed she had three new messages, and immediately selected the one from Captain Ukitake to listen to.

"That was a great job we did." The Vice-Captain screamed and fumbled with her phone as she jumped, the voice behind her taking her completely by surprise. She whirled around to face the speaker, her closed phone clutched in both hands and her stance heavily guarded. A medical eyepatch over his right eye and his red hair hanging unbound to his shoulders, the redhead from before stood behind her. His gigai wore a white wife beater and a mostly-unbuttoned dark green dress shirt, halfway untucked and held in place by a pair of black and white striped suspenders. A few chains hung from his belt, and they jingled as he shifted his weight. Around his neck were a set of dogtags, the chain tied in a knot about halfway up.

"Thank you for the assistance. I wasn't expecting the Blanks to become hostile so quickly." He had the grace to look confused for a moment, his one green eye narrowing slightly. Lenalee looked up at him with the same amount of confusion at his apparent lack of knowledge on the subject. "You know what a Blank is, right?" The shinigami shrugged lightly, looking off over the Vice-Captain's head with a bit of guilt. "You attacked something without knowing what it was?"

"I wasn't about to stand by and let you get hurt!" The sudden outburst made Lenalee pause, blinking widely as she looked up at the unknown shinigami. He looked almost hurt, and the face was familiar in the infuriating way that Yuu was. She smiled comfortingly at him and shook her head, watching as his face softened out of its scowl. Somehow he looked better without it, the expression bringing a feeling of hopelessness and loss that shouldn't have been there.

"It's alright. I'm Vice-Captain Lee of the 13th Division; I had the situation under control. I'm grateful for your help, though." She squeaked as she suddenly found herself wrapped in a tight hug, her face buried into the redhead's shoulder and his forehead resting between her pigtails. It was an almost desperate-feeling motion, his arms tight as though he didn't want to let go. "Hey, what-"

"Lenalee." The Vice-Captain stiffened as he breathed out her name, relief coloring the word until it was almost palpable. There was pain as well, but his voice and her name made her think of a moonlit night and dropping like a stone out of the air. She couldn't pay attention to much beyond the sensation of heavy déjà vu that she had never experienced in the first place, and it infuriated her. "I'm so glad you're okay."

-/-

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**I think this may actually be the longest chapter I've ever written for anything in the history of ever. Roughly eleven and 5/8****th**** pages not counting this ending note. It's really sorta infuriating how out-of-hand this managed to get, but man oh man did I ever have fun dressing Lenalee and Lavi's gigai. **

**OH BY THE WAY IT'S LAVI, GAIZ. AND I LOVE MEMORIES OF NOBODY. **

**At this point in the timeline it's just about twenty three or so years after the Winter War. Mana, in case you couldn't tell, was punished not by prison time or execution but by being forced to become a shinigami. The Onmitsukido is made of evil bastards and if he makes a wrong move he'll be locked up in the Maggot's Nest. Lovely place that is. Can you guess why Mana's name is Mana? Lenalee didn't name him. **

**Lenalee's Soul Candy is Gringo, the one that Yumichika uses. I want her acrylic nails so gorram bad right now but that would make it extremely hard for me to type. Its 12:38 in the morning on a Saturday and I should be sleeping but instead I'm typing because I wanna get this chapter the hell over with. **

**Next Turn back the Time Record chapter will actually probably be a bit on the Zanpakuto Rebellion filler for the hell of it, and after that will be the Miscellaneous Adventures of Lenalee and Ukitake because I can. These DEATH 49 chapters will be the real storyline, and I'll be focusing on it for the next few normal timeline chapters. **

**Do not expect another chapter this long ever unless the next DEATH 49 chapter decides to get out of hand like this one has. It shouldn't though, it actually seems to me like it'll be much shorter. **

**PEACE**

**LCR**


	10. Night 10: Turn Back the Time Record 5

**Back in Black**

_Lt. Commander Richie_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own either Bleach or D Gray-man. Eyup.

**A/N: **I love this idea so much. Unfortunately it was born of writer's block. But still, it's a great idea in my opinion~ The adventures of Lenalee in Soul Society, should she be dead and in possession of a dual zanpakuto! Yeah!

_Night 10: Turn Back the Time Record Part 5

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Her small quarters were pitch black, the moon outside blocked by the tree in the small pocket garden outside. The wind was nearly nonexistent in the dead of night, and like so many others in the 13th Division Lenalee slept soundly. She was undisturbed by nightmares for the first time in a long while, her dreams instead full of flowers and gardens that she chased her subordinates and friends through in a game of tag. There was plenty of laughing as she tackled someone to the ground, rolling over them to get to her feet and take off at a sprint. But as she ran something grabbed her attention, and the world went black as she stirred from the dream. The sound came again, a light rustling, and the 5th Seat bolted straight upright and held her hand forward in preparation to fire a Hado as fast as she could.

A green glow diffused through the room, turning every surface every shade of the color that seemed to exist. The source was a collection of pinpricks of light, crystals floating in the corner of the room at about the officer's eye-level. Without warning they moved, lightning-fast and with the rustling sound of fabric, and a man's warm hand clasped around her wrist and pointed it up at the ceiling. At the closer vantage point Lenalee could make out handsome facial features, small crystals stuck directly to the skin and shard-like spikes holding back wavy black hair. Long curls hung over one side of his face, and his eyes glowed the same color as the crystals he sported not only on his face but sewn into parts of his clothes in intricate patterns.

"I wouldn't do that, little Lena. We're not here to fight you." His voice was deep and sensual with a crushed crystal tone, practically a purr to the 5th Seat's ears, and she blushed at the close proximity that the strange man had to her. In the darkness she could see the cruel-looking claws of glowing green crystal he wore on the fingers of his other hand, and they needed no flexing or glinting in light to infer just what they were capable of. His haori spread across her futon in a blanket of glowing crystal chips, a row of hexagons decorating the edge and a twisting pattern of swirls and butterflies reaching up the sides.

"Dark Boots." Her voice was only a whisper, no more than a breath, but the man's mouth tilted slightly upwards in what was almost a smirk as she identified him. "Why are you-" one of the man's clawed fingers came up and pressed on her lips, not enough pressure to cut skin behind the movement but enough that she quieted immediately. The spirit's face was immediately serious again, and he let her wrist go in order to bring his flesh hand to her cheek in a tender movement.

"We are two, three counting you. While she fights this I've come to tell you goodbye." The shock must have been evident on the 5th Seat's face, because the man's face softened into a look that seemed so tender it was hard to imagine that he could ever hurt anyone or anything. Lenalee's fingers grasped at the soft fabric of his clothes, unmindful of the glowing crystal shards that nicked at her palms, and she clenched the garment as hard as she could in her hands.

"You can't! What are you fighting? We'll do it together!" The spirit gathered the girl to his chest, his fingers lacing through her long unbound hair as she began to cry. He shook his head and she bit her lip, tasting blood there as she realized the spirit's claw had cut her. Without warning she pulled back and punched him in the shoulder, small cuts appearing on her knuckles as she slit the skin on the crystal designs there. His laugh was hollow as she looked stubbornly resolute, his face becoming grim as something caught his attention. His vision shifted up and to the left, eyes unfocusing for the briefest of moments before his flesh hand reached out once again and cupped his shinigami's cheek. She leaned into it just slightly, not flinching in the slightest as the spirit leaned forward and placed a long and tender kiss on her opposite cheek right by her ear.

"You don't know just how much we truly love you." His breath was hot in her ear as he spoke, and the sensation made a tremble flow through the girl as she reached out for the spirit once again. But as she did so she was suddenly only holding a flock of crystal butterflies, their wings clicking and tinkling like a crashing chandelier as they dispersed and knocked her outside door off of its hinges as they flooded through it. Leaves fell from the tree in the pocket garden outside as they thundered through the branches, moonlight finally filtering through the foliage to light up the small room she was quartered in. Without regards to her state of undress in only a black and white checkerboard-print jinbei, Lenalee scrambled to her feet and ran out the door after the fleeing spirit. Her hair flowed behind her unbound as she flash-stepped barefoot to the roof of the 13th Division's main building, her toes grasping at the tiles and her fingers holding tightly to the decorative carp at the end of the roof with a white-knuckled grip.

The sensation of every zanpakuto and its Reiatsu being released in the Seiretei was absolutely overwhelming. It made the air taste like power, raw and tingling like electricity was charging every molecule the 5th Seat breathed in and out. Easily picked out were those of the Captains and Vice-Captains, shining beacons of raw energy that blanketed everything in a veil of sluggish movements and difficult breathing in a way that seemed menacing and horrible. Lenalee swallowed hard at the sensation, her mind racing as she scanned the dark horizon with careful eyes. Explosions of color and light, coupled with explosions of all sizes and fresh washes of insurmountable power, lit the center of the Seiretei with an eerie glow. Her hair blew in a sudden wind and the officer's eyes widened as she watched a wave rise, glowing so pink in the night that the sparse clouds above reflected the light. It crashed down on several buildings, exploding into a cloud of rubble and an ocean of a billion small knives. A Captain-level Reiatsu blinked out of existence, and Lenalee's mouth began to fall slowly open. There was something very wrong going on in the Seiretei.

"Everyone up!" In a single step of shunpo she was kicking open the barracks doors, running down halls with loud footsteps and banging on every shoji door she passed. "Everyone up _now_! We've got a serious situation developing and we need everyone alert and ready to go ten minutes ago!" Grumbles and yells followed her wake up call, but relatively alert shinigami quickly dressed and made their way to the main courtyard of the 13th Division with zanpakuto sheathed and ready to go. As they milled around, some cursing the early hour and others lamenting that they hadn't gone to bed yet, the lower-Seated officers attempted to regiment them into a relatively helpful force. As they did that Lenalee made a dash to the officers' quarters, entering the building through her broken door and immediately banging on the door of the quarters next to hers.

"What the hell is going on, Lenalee?" 4th Seat Shiratori slid his door open with enough force that it jumped when it stopped, light flooding the corridor from the lit lantern he held in his hand. He was already dressed and had his zanpakuto with him, wary of the shadows in the corridor as he looked around. "You look like hell! How'd you get so cut up?" His expression softened as he took in the litany of small lacerations she sported, his free hand coming up to wipe some blood from her forehead.

"We're being attacked and I think Captain Kuchiki is down! You wake up the 3rd Seats and I'll get everyone else!" Lenalee turned to run for the end of the hall where the 6th Seat's quarters were, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Yoshi's face was grim as he pointed with the hand holding the lantern at the 5th Seat's quarters.

"I'll wake the other officers; you get dressed, get cleaned up and get your zanpakuto. If Captain Kuchiki is down we'll need to mobilize so we can act in full force when we receive orders." At Lenalee's look of confusion, the 4th Seat wiped a hand across her forehead in a motion that made her wince at the sting and showed her his hand in the light of his lantern. There were smears of red across it, bright and wet in the yellow light. "You're bleeding everywhere, little Lena. Get dressed and clean up, then report to me and we'll see about assisting the Captains." She nodded once, retreating into her room and grabbing a handkerchief to mop at her forehead with from the desk she kept her things on. With fumbling, stinging fingers she found her lantern and lit it, the orange glow casting about the room in warmth that seemed only skin-deep.

Without much time she only grabbed one of her gold hair bands, pulling all of her hair through in one long motion before securing it with a click at the base of her neck. The long tail hung limply along her back as she pulled off her sleepwear, throwing it haphazardly across the room as she pulled on a shihakusho and tied it like she normally did. Her obi was the one from the day before, still laying half-folded across her desk, and she forwent the pretty knot she usually did for a very utilitarian one that only took a few motions. All of this she tied with a black cord and then ran to her small closet, pulling the door open with enough force to make it jump in its track. From under the neatly-folded extra futon she kept there for her nonexistent guests she pulled a wakizashi, the utterly plain circular tsuba marking it as nothing much higher than a training sword. Lenalee ran back to her desk and pulled a scarf from the growing pile next to it, tying one knot around the sword's sheath and then tying the improvised rig and weapon around the bottom of her obi with a more permanent knot. She grabbed another scarf and tied it around the top of her obi, tucking the ends she usually let trail into themselves so as to stay out of the way. With a process that usually took half an hour cut down to nothing more than ten minutes the 5th Seat grabbed her Dark Boots and ran for the door with her lantern in her other hand.

The weight of a sword was a foreign one on her hip, oddly heavy and slightly cumbersome. But the 5th Seat had a sinking feeling that she would need it, even if she never really knew how to handle one to begin with. The metal shoes that she wore as she raced through the darkened gardens felt strangely empty, nothing more than a flexible coldness that seemed more like cruel shackles to her than actual shoes. The feeling was irrational at its base, but there was still an unexplainable sentiment there that she couldn't seem to shake. Lenalee took a corner a little sharply and nearly toppled over as her shoes skittered on the entrance to the main courtyard, sparks and shrieks going everywhere as she regained her balance and headed for where her commanding officers stood. As she approached it became evident that something very serious had happened- not only were 3rd Seats Kotetsu and Kotsubaki getting along, they were talking civilly and apparently planning something.

"Have we received orders yet?" 4th Seat Shiratori looked up from where he was re-lighting his lantern, his eyes focusing on the girl in front of him with a split second of confusion before recognition set in despite her lack of pigtails. Lenalee set her lantern down and gently took the one from her superior, holding it steady so that he could use both hands to re-light it.

"No. The men are getting a little antsy and I've got no way of sending anyone for information. We have no idea what's going on and we need to know pretty damn quick." No sooner had Yoshi spoken did a messenger flicker into view with a flit of shunpo, kneeling in the center of the small group of highly-Seated officers with his head bowed low. The entire courtyard fell utterly silent as the man spoke, only the shifting of cloth and click of swords in sheathes audible.

"Captain-Commander Yamamoto has been kidnapped by an insurgent- this same insurgent has somehow managed to release the spirits of all the zanpakuto in the Seiretei." The spirit's words suddenly became clear to Lenalee as she looked down at her Dark Boots, the metal forms completely empty of feeling and reassurance like they normally held. "The 13th Division is to seek out any and all roaming spirits and capture them to the best of your ability. All Seated officers 5th Seat and above are to find and subdue their zanpakuto spirits before they deal damage to the Seiretei or anyone in it." 4th Seat Shiratori, his lantern forgotten in Lenalee's hands, reached for the sword he usually kept at his hip. The look on his face spoke volumes as he grabbed the handle, a sudden feeling of loss he hadn't even noticed coming to the forefront of his mind.

"You heard the man! Everyone, move out! The capture of zanpakuto spirits, whether or not they're yours, is our main priority right now! If you encounter a zanpakuto more powerful than you, do not engage alone!" 3rd Seat Kotetsu's voice rose above the assembled shinigami, and they all shouted their understanding before heading for the main gates of the Division. His job done, the messenger disappeared in a flit of shunpo without even so much as a sound.

"Will you be alright?" Lenalee's voice was small but steady in the rush of shinigami that headed for the main gates. Those that thought ahead disappeared in flashes of shunpo, but still the noise was almost deafening. 4th Seat Shiratori nodded absently, his hand still clutching at his sword with a sort of slack grip. "Don't let your sword, or lack thereof, get the best of you." Yoshi seemed to snap from his funk in a jolt of movement, and his fingers left the grip of his sword with a lingering touch before patting the top of the 5th Seat's head. She smiled at him in the glow of the lantern, and held his out to him before stooping to pick up her own.

"Don't worry about me- do you know what you're looking for? You have two to catch, little Lena, though I doubt you've forgotten." Lenalee nodded to her superior, clicking her heels together with a metallic clink.

"I'll be alright," she reassured, shifting enough to indicate the plain wakizashi she wore tied at her waist. The 4th Seat furrowed his eyebrows at the sight, unaccustomed to seeing the girl in front of him with a sword. He wasn't even sure she had owned one before this, since she neither had a grasp of Zanjutsu nor a reason to perfect that skill. Without letting Yoshi pose a question about the sudden appearance of a bladed weapon at her side, Lenalee nodded a confirmation to him and was gone in a flash of shunpo fast enough to stir the air.

-/-

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-/-

The stillness of the cave was only broken by the sounds of battle elsewhere. It echoed down the long tunnels, turning from battle cries and blasts of power to the moans and howls of creatures in the night. Her shoes clicked on the stone below her feet, horrid squeaks issuing forth as she stumbled on the hard floor. Blood spattered on the cold rocks beneath her as she moved, finally beginning to pool as she stopped and slid down the wall of the cave with a slight whimper. One hand clutched tightly at the cut on her side, and if she pressed hard enough she could still feel the shard of sharp crystal that was stuck there. The Dark Boots scraped on the rock floor as she drew her knees closer to her body, the hand that wasn't grasping at the bleeding wound in her side still grasping the wakizashi she had armed herself with days before. The weapon had been a good idea after all and had protected her from several dangers she had never thought would have been difficult to overcome.

"Why?" Lenalee's voice was a pained whisper in the tunnel, and she bit her lip to stifle the cry that would have otherwise come out as she reached into her wound and pulled the shard of glowing green crystal from it. It was shaped like a butterfly's wing and made of thousands of faceted edges, refracting its own light in shimmers and shines that made it seem so innocent. But the crystal was deadly, as the 5th Seat had quickly found out, and she didn't like it one bit. There was not a single thing innocent about her zanpakuto spirits, and though the promised they would never hurt her she was beginning to believe that they had lied. Lenalee wound up and threw the crystal shard as hard as she could, a grim satisfaction coming from the tinkling sound it made as it smashed against the opposite wall of the tunnel. Her zanpakuto were not nice things, and in that moment she resolved not to be nice to them either.

"Do you know what it feels like to love and be despised in return?" The hard edge to the sensual purr of a voice in her ear was frightening and sudden, and the 5th Seat stiffened before taking a haphazard swipe at the spirit with her wakizashi. Sparks flew as the metal impacted his clawed crystal hand, and the blade was promptly wrenched from Lenalee's white-knuckled grip and thrown down the tunnel. In all his resplendent silks and his crystal-decorated haori, one half of the Dark Boots sat next to its former master on the rough stone floor. His green glow lit up the entire subterranean passage with a dim light, the swirls and patterns on his haori even more brilliant in the deep darkness than they had been in her room only a few days before. When Lenalee didn't answer his question, the flesh hand of the spirit reached up and grabbed her by one pigtail. The 5th Seat hissed in pain, but turned her attention to the beautiful man with a look in her purple eyes that belied an old resentment and a horrible hurt.

"I'm beginning to." Her succinct answer wasn't enough for the spirit, and he stood with her pigtail still clenched in his fist. Lenalee hissed in pain as he tugged again, and struggled to her feet in an effort to alleviate the cruel sting. Blood spattered on the ground as she did so, and her red-stained hand clutched at the wound again to staunch the flow. Still, a steady dribble of red found its way through her fingers and bubbled its way down her arm to her elbow.

"You'll _never _know what you put us through!" Suddenly the clawed green crystal hand was at her face, just barely scratching with a grip that almost trembled. The cruel look in his eyes was so different from the one he had worn only days before, nearly the polar opposite the completely tender gaze that he had held her in before he had said goodbye. Whatever Muramasa had done to her zanpakuto spirits, it was something horrible to have so reversed the love that had been there until just recently. "We did _everything _for you! We kept you safe, we helped you keep the people around you safe, and yet you scorned us and hated us as though we were the very demons you used us to destroy!"

"I never-" Lenalee began, but the sting of fresh cuts being scraped into her face by movement made her still. She was close enough to the spirit that she could feel him breathe, four layers of lush silks and long wavy hair just barely brushing against her in a way that managed to convey further hostility where they had once conveyed comfort.

"You are so _selfish_." Her eyes widened at his words, confusion evident on her face as plain as the crystals that adorned his. A lock of curling hair pulled its way free from the crystals that held it back, falling into the spirit's face in a way that just barely began to make him seem a little less frightening. But his words still bit at her consciousness, stirring up feelings she never knew she had towards the shoes she wore and the spirit that held her so close. "You scorned us and hated us, yet begged and pleaded for more power every time you wanted to protect what was precious to you. We loved you so much that we did it without question!" For a spare moment the claw was removed from her face, and Lenalee took the chance to spin tightly and plant a foot into the spirit's stomach. Surprised, he stumbled backwards and let go of his former master's pigtail. The shinigami spun on her heel and ran for the wakizashi the spirit had thrown, diving for it regardless of the burning pain in her side. Just as her hand was about to close around the handle, however, the shadows that filled the tunnel so completely shifted just barely and the sword was suddenly lifted out of her reach.

It rose into the air as though lifted, fading into the darkness as the shadows coalesced into something vaguely human. What had once been the deep shadows of a darkened tunnel was now a tall form composed completely of blackness, tapering and fading down into a cloud of black smoke. It had no arms and hardly any shoulders, a cloud of curling white hair coming into being as Lenalee struggled to her feet. Her wakizashi was no longer visible, absorbed completely by the darkness. The bow around its neck faded just as the rest of it did, like someone had taken an eraser to the base of the creature's body and had begun to destroy it from existence.

"You don't even remember." The smoky spirit's voice was effervescent in the growing green glow of the man behind the shinigami she spoke to, but full of pitying hatred that seemed far more tangible than the speaker itself. As the spirit spoke its eyes opened, white pits in a blackened face, and its mouth stretched red across its face in a horrible mockery of a smile that was much wider than any human mouth could ever accomplish. In a horribly cruel movement the male half of Dark Boots grabbed its former master by the wrist and wrenched her backwards. Lenalee fell onto his chest in a heavy motion, the spirit leaning down to speak to her even as he held his clawed crystal hand to her throat. Blood leaked from the wound in the 5th Seat's side and bled into the spirit's haori, staining the beautiful fabric a garish dark red.

"Do you have anything to say before we kill you? Keep in mind I've waited for a long time for my freedom from your hatred, I don't think I can wait much longer." The beautiful purr of a voice the man possessed did nothing to mask the spite in each and every one of his words, and the spirit's claws tightened just slightly around her neck until they began to break skin. Lenalee weakly resisted against the grip he had on her, but suddenly found the tip of her wakizashi gently prodding her in the stomach. The 5th Seat immediately stilled, her mind racing as she listened to the silence that had overtaken the tunnel. "I'm waiting." Both spirits seemed hesitant, as though they were waiting on her final words before they killed her and would not make a move until then.

"Thank you for protecting me," Lenalee finally began, her voice breaking the silence into a thousand pieces as she let go of the wound on her side to reach up and place her bloodied hand on the cheek of her captor. He stiffened at the warm and wet sensation, blinking heavily for a moment before taking in the surroundings as though he was just then seeing them for the first time. His clawed grip went slack for just that moment, and Lenalee took the chance to duck from his hands and spin low to kick his legs out from under him. The male spirit went down heavily, his eyes fixed on the ceiling of the tunnel with a dazed expression. "I am so grateful to you both that I don't think you can quite comprehend it." The black creature of a spirit dissolved down into a puddle of shadow, spreading across the floor before coalescing beneath its counterpart and pushing him to his feet. As it assumed its original form, the male spirit clenched his flesh hand and pointed the clawed one at her.

"You've lost! Making amends does _nothing_ now!" The three faced each other with a fiery determination in their eyes, and Lenalee once again clutched at the wound in her side in an effort to stop the blood. In the green glow of the male spirit she was beginning to look very pale, a slight sway to her stance coming into play the longer she stood. "A few years of gratitude don't make up for a lifetime of hatred!" The spirit's voice was full of spite, and as he started towards his former master she began to smile widely. "You've got nothing to smile about." His tone became wary as he reached out with his senses, unsure of what he would find. His eyes suddenly went to the hand clamped over the shinigami's wound, noting the blue glow there that was nearly drowned by his own bright green aura.

"Making amends bought me enough time to cast Bakudo #14 on myself," Lenalee smiled as she pulled her hand away from her side, the blood there only covering warped and scarred flesh. "It isn't very pretty, but it'll do." In a sudden movement the 5th Seat jumped forward in a flying kick, catching the male spirit in the throat with her foot and sending him flying backwards through the more ethereal black one. With a spin she alighted on the ground, crouching low and ready to attack once again should the opportunity present itself. It did almost immediately, the effervescent black spirit falling to the hard ground in a puddle of shadow before shooting forward in a series of very solid spikes. One very narrowly missed its target, and the cool aura the spike exuded made Lenalee think of the shoes on her feet for a split second before she ducked and then flipped backwards. Before she could even finish the flip she was surrounded by a thousand of the bright green crystal butterflies, their sharp wings making small slices on her skin as she landed in a careful crouch. "Hado #58, Orchid Sky!" She thrust her hands forward and called on a fairly massive amount of power and concentration, not trusting herself to have time to say the incantation for a higher-level Hado without making a mistake.

The whirlwind that ripped through the tunnel blew both the butterflies and the more ethereal spirit completely apart. In all the confusion the Hado caused her wakizashi was released by the black spirit and sent flying into the opposite wall, embedding itself into the stone with a certain amount of ferocity. Lenalee immediately ran for it, grabbing the handle and pulling with both hands to wrench it free and sheathe it at her side. Both spirits were beginning to stir and collect themselves as she faced them, a long silence passing between the three in a way that seemed almost dead. The male spirit was the first one up, butterflies still alighting on him and becoming parts of his lush clothing and crystal decorations as he stood on shaky feet. Lenalee resisted the urge to run to him and help him up, instead forcing her hands to go to the wakizashi she had just sheathed at her hip.

"This has to end." The male spirit's voice was strained, but no less of a purr than it had ever been. The tone hurt the shinigami more than she thought it would, and she let her hands fall from her sword as she gave him a sad smile and nodded her agreement. It wasn't a pitying smile, or even a grieving one, but the expression was bordering almost on tears in a way that made the spirit's eyebrows furrow ever so slightly. In unison the two crouched, their stances matching as they faced each other in the green-tinged gloom.

"You are the wind in the butterfly's wings; you dance the waltz of the misty morning, Dark Boots." Where Lenalee's boots exploded up her legs in a rush of black tendrils, forming her boots and armor in only seconds, the spirit's boots formed differently. The air shifted slightly, a dim blackness that Lenalee realized was the smoke-like white haired spirit coalescing on the male spirit's legs and feet to form the same hard black boots she wore. The bright green lines down the front of his boots flared into life, and as though it was a starting signal the two combatants launched at each other with alarming speed. They kicked off of each other with enough force that the tunnel shook, rocks falling from the ceiling as the stone rumbled around them. They skidded backwards on the stone floor, sparks flying from the pointed toes of their boots before they came to a stop and jumped at each other once again. This time they met with matching high-kicks, their shins smashing together with crushing force before rebounding and making separate moves. Lenalee ducked low and kicked upwards and to the side, nearly impacting the spirit's knee before he twisted out of the way and flipped over her head. The shinigami suddenly found hands grasping under her arms, and with the momentum of his spin she was thrown down the tunnel at an alarming speed.

With a twist she stopped herself parallel to the ground, looking up the tunnel at her rapidly-approaching assailant with determination in her eyes before kicking off of the solid empty air and twisting to catch the spirit in the chin with one foot and flip him over her head and into the ground. Before he could react she twisted again, her heel coming down with explosive force and nearly crushing his head. At the last second he moved, just narrowly missing his death at the hands of his former master before rolling completely out of the way and then flipping to his feet. His kick upwards missed as she flitted out of the way, coming up behind him to deliver a kick that sent him smashing into the roof of the tunnel. The ground rumbled ominously and large chunks of rock began to fall, and with the threat of a cave-in imminent the 5th Seat kicked off towards the mouth of the tunnel with enough speed that the air behind her cracked loud enough to make the already unstable walls shake even more.

A cloud of dust followed the shinigami out into the massive cavern she had originally found her zanpakuto spirits in, the rumble of collapsing rubble echoing ominously through the large empty space. She turned and skidded to a stop in the open air, her pigtails flying over her shoulders to hang around her face as she watched the cloud for any signs of movement. She just barely began to relax as her spirits exploded from the cloud of dust with a bang of breaking air. The two jumped into movement once again, taking advantage of the larger amount of space they could now fight in to build up momentum for their crushing attacks. Lenalee flipped herself over twice before cracking her heel into the head of the male spirit and flinging him into the ground. He laughed as he stood, his boots scraping the stone as he pulled himself into a stance and then jumped. In a tight spin that made every layer he wore fan out in a blanket of sparkles the spirit rocketed up past the 5th Seat where she stood in the open air and then flipped upside-down to shoot himself at her. At the last moment he flipped again, his foot impacting her chest and pushing the girl towards the ground at an alarming rate with him still pushing. Somehow Lenalee managed to get her hands around his ankle and push off the open air with her own boots, using his momentum against him in order to flip him around and with a kick send him flying face-first into the stone floor below.

"You're learning! I haven't had a fight like this for a _long _time!" In a crack of broken air the spirit was on his feet and in front of his opponent, spinning tightly to plant a boot in the shinigami's stomach and send her flying into the rocky ceiling. Instead of hitting it and falling back towards the cavern floor, however, she punched through the thin stone crust as she impacted it and flew into the open air. The force sent her spinning head-over-heels for a moment before she righted herself, skidding backwards through the open air at a 45-degree angle to the ground and shaking dizziness out of her head. A refreshing breeze was a stark difference from the musty cavern air, and at her altitude it blew Lenalee's pigtails to the side as she scanned the surroundings for her assailant. From above a boot impacted her back and she went flying once again, twisting around at the last moment to kick off above the treetops and deliver a spinning kick to the spirit's side.

"I can do everything you can do! There's no point in dragging this fight on any longer!" The two met in a flurry of kicks as Lenalee yelled above the din, going on the defensive as the zanpakuto spirit became more aggressive in his attacks. He planted a foot in her chest again and kicked her backwards, the two stilling in the open air as though waiting for the other to make the next move.

"We can utilize our powers to the full extent of their abilities, Lenalee. You can do everything we can do?" The spirit scoffed and flexed his clawed hand in the bright sun. Where in the dark he appeared to glow green and sparkle, in the bright light of the sun he shone like a diamond from every crystal shard that adorned him. The effect was annoyingly bright. "That's so misinformed that it isn't even funny. You're still learning how to control us- you can't do nearly the things we can." The spirit whipped his clawed hand forward to catch the boot aimed for his face, twisting the girl's foot around and throwing her up into the air without too much difficulty. She flipped herself around and launched back at him, a bang of shattering air following her supersonic movement as she twisted several times and then brought her heels down on the shoulders of the spirit. He stumbled downwards, losing his footing in the open air and tumbling about a hundred feet towards the treetops before righting himself and peering upwards at his former master.

"I know one thing you can't do that I can!" The dark-haired spirit looked quizzical as he furrowed his brow and looked up at the girl, her words almost lost on the wind. "Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws!" The spirit's eyes widened in alarm as he realized just what was being cast at him, but he was too late to react before the massive bolt of blue-white fire hit him with enough force to blow him into the ground and set several trees on fire. "Hado #33! Blue Fire, Crash Down!"

As the onslaught of Kido ended the spirit groaned, his ethereal counterpart slowly dissolving from its attacking form into a white-haired puddle of darkness and smoke. Lenalee dropped to the ground like a stone, her impact sending scorched earth everywhere and denting the forest floor. The crater she had blown the spirits into with her attack smoked slightly, and her own Dark Boots sealed themselves as she ran to the edge and looked into the shallow depression. Both spirits were smeared with dirt and having trouble maintaining their corporeality respectively, and she jumped into the crater with them and slid down the dirt walls to kneel between them. The male spirit began to laugh, the sound rich and happy despite the circumstances. He was joined by a rattling wheeze of a laugh, the sound utterly frightening until Lenalee realized that it was in fact coming from the incorporeal spirit on her other side. Her Dark Boots both sounded amazingly relieved, and the 5th Seat began to tear up as she watched them both. She clenched her fists in her lap as she bit her lip, her eyes closing as she looked towards the ground.

"Thank you." The deep and seductive voice of the male spirit at her side made Lenalee look up, wetness clinging to her eyelashes as she took in the sorry state of her two zanpakuto spirits. His curling black hair went everywhere as he sat up, but the male spirit still made the effort and braced himself with his crystal claw in order to grab one of his shinigami's hands. "I think…" He seemed to pause, and Lenalee worked her fingers between his fingers in the silence. Her other hand went to the black puddle of smoke at her other side, unsure for a moment before feeling something grasp her in return and reassure her. "I think we may have needed that." He finished, and suddenly had to bring his clawed hand up in order to steady the girl that fell onto his chest with a cry and a torrent of tears. Behind the two of them the black form finally rose, completely corporeal and solid as a headless harpy-esque creature. It joined the embrace with its winged arms, exuding warmth from its jet black metallic body that seemed almost otherworldly.

Lenalee's gasping sobs quieted after a long while, turning into a steady pattern of breathing that indicated sleep. When he was completely sure she was out the male spirit stood, holding her carefully so as to refrain from slicing her skin on the thousands of crystals that adorned him. The harpy-esque spirit tilted its long headless neck to one side, the deliberate and slow movement conveying a question it couldn't otherwise speak out loud in its current form. Its counterpart nodded an affirmative and the black body fell to the ground in a puddle of black that quickly formed boots around the male spirit's legs. At a slow pace he kicked into the air, a content leisure falling over him as he made his way in the direction of the Seiretei.

-/-

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**Note to self: never, ever, **_**ever**_** write a fight scene between two people with the same powers ever again. HOLY SHIT THAT WAS CRAZY. But it was also so much fun and I loved doing it and oh my god I think I just wrote like five pages of WORDS WORDS WORDS in two hours what the hell am I doing. **

**So. Roughly ten and 5/8****th**** pages up in the hizzouse. But for some reason this chapter only clocked in at about 6.5k words without this A/N, WHICH IS PERFECTLY OKAY, but yeah. I thought I had written more. But this chapter puts this fic over 50K words in only ten chapters! Holy shit, it took like twenty for me to do the same with The Loveless. That is so totally rad. **

**Anyway, for the male spirit that makes up one half of Dark Boots, imagine Byakuya. Now imagine him with all the suave and curly hair of Aizen without the mullet except curlier and about the length of the mullet. Now he's voiced by Steven Blum. Now make him sparkle just a little less than a Twilight vampire (askdjlfhkjhfd I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT FFFFFF-) and you're about halfway to how goddamn pretty, suave, and sexy-voiced that spirit is supposed to be. For the other half of Dark Boots, imagine the headless harpy thing that the Dark Boots took the form of when Lenalee got her new boots in the DGM manga and they combined with her blood. Now make it pitch black because the boots are her original ones and not the red crystal ones. There you go. **

**I am too lazy to look through eleven pages and find crazy typos. If you find any, any at ALL in this fic (I type REALLY FAST so there are probably plenty) please tell me so I can fix them or I'll go utterly insane. **

**PEACE, YO**

**LCR.**


	11. Night 11: DEATH 49, BLA NK

**Back in Black**

_Lt. Commander Richie_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own either Bleach or D Gray-man. Eyup.

**A/N: **I love this idea so much. Unfortunately it was born of writer's block. But still, it's a great idea in my opinion~ The adventures of Lenalee in Soul Society, should she be dead and in possession of a dual zanpakuto! Yeah!

PS: Sorry about the delay. My computer took a header off the side of my bed and decided it didn't like life anymore, so I had to send it in for a week so it'd get fixed. It's alright now though, and we should be right back to the updating schedule again. Ish. The next chapter is the last one I have finished and I've sort of run out of inspiration. Should be fun.

_Night 11: DEATH 49.2 ["Bla"+"nk"]

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"Why wouldn't I be alright?" The tight hug that the redhead held Lenalee in seemed to slack as she spoke, his demeanor changing from one of relief to one of guarded confusion in the blink of an eye. The Vice-Captain pushed her way out of his grip, looking up at his one exposed green eye with her own confusion evident on her face. The feeling overrode all of her déjà vu, pushing it to the back of her mind as she spoke. "I don't think we've ever met, even. What Division are you in?" Seamlessly, the shinigami went from his careful confusion to a very laid-back and apologetic expression. He itched idly at the back of his head with one hand, shoving the other into his pants pocket in what seemed to be a nervous gesture. His laugh was an easygoing one, bringing that feeling of half-remembering back to the front of the Vice-Captain's mind with full force.

"That's the thing, isn't it? I'm in the middle of a transfer, so when I get back I ought to know what Division I'm in!" Lenalee sighed and lowered her forehead into her hand, a picture of exasperation at the idiots running the reassignment offices. With her other hand she flipped open her phone and accessed her messages again, going back to the one from Captain Ukitake to listen to it. Beside her, the redhead leaned against the retaining wall that made up one side of the sidewalk and shoved his other hand in a pocket. The message was the usual kind, full of her Captain not too sure how to use the phone and general reminders in a fatherly tone. It made her smile lightly, and she saved the message to the same folder as the other ones of the same genre before going through the other messages. They were just texts from other deployed shinigami in the area, both hellos from fellow 13th Division members that she knew in passing.

"What's your name, anyway?" With her messages checked and her curiosity back in full swing, Lenalee turned to the redhead with a smile. He pointed to himself with one hand in a joking fashion before returning her smile, pushing off the retaining wall with his back and rocking on the soles of his large combat boots as he stood straight.

"Lavi. Just Lavi. Nothing more and nothing less." He held his hand out to shake, and with a small titter of a laugh Lenalee took the rough and calloused palm and shook it. The name sounded familiar to her, and she muttered it under her breath once, but no rush of information came. "So how many of those Blanks did we kill?" The redhead's question came a little out of left field and the Vice-Captain blinked out of her reverie after a moment, registering what he had said and then shaking her head.

"I wasn't keeping track, really. I'm not actually here to destroy them." At his politely puzzled expression she elaborated, idly flipping her phone open and shut as she spoke. "I'm here on special assignment to find something called the Memory Rosary. The Blanks are just a harmless side-effect of it, so if you see any more of them you don't really have to worry." At her sweet expression Lavi couldn't help but smile, a hand coming up to rest on the Vice-Captain's head just between her pigtails just like everyone else she had ever known seemed to like to do. His smile turned into a large grin, and Lenalee suddenly didn't like the redhead's demeanor a single bit.

"I'll help you find it, then!" Suddenly they were off, his hand grasped around her wrist as they ran in a seemingly random direction through the streets and houses. She struggled to keep up with his long strides in her heels and yelled about this fact several times to the redhead's apparently immense amusement, taking corners with much less finesse than he could because of her footwear and nearly falling over several times. His pattern was seemingly random for a while, and as he began to tire ten minutes into the manic venture he pulled the Vice-Captain with him to sit on a low playground wall in a much larger park than the one she had been in before.

"You just ran for ten minutes and probably got us hopelessly lost without even knowing what the Memory Rosary looks like." Lavi looked over at Lenalee with an apologetic gaze, having the grace to spread it to the rest of his face and his stance as well. She sighed heavily and checked her hair with her fingers, hoping fervently that it wasn't a total mess. Thankfully it hadn't lost its curl, and she folded her hands demurely in her lap as she caught her breath. "For how fast you run we could be all the way in Ikebukuro by now." The redhead made a face that spoke of distaste, so horribly comical that the pigtailed girl couldn't help but giggle. His face softened back into a smile, oddly content with its surroundings despite the man residing in a park in the Human Realm with a superior officer he had never met.

"I figured I'd know what it was when I saw it, you know?" Lenalee smiled wanly, shaking her head and pulling one foot from the grassy ground to knead at her heel around the shoe. She still couldn't bear to stay angry at the shoes, as pretty as they were, but it was getting easier and easier every time she had to stand up. "Hey! I'm sorry I drug you around like that. I'll go find a vending machine and get us some coffee, how's that sound?" Lenalee looked up at the now-standing redhead, blinking owlishly at his suggestion before nodding mutely. He gave a lazy salute and headed for the park entrance, looking for all the world like a street punk in the middle of a nice residential area. As he turned and went out of sight around someone's garden wall, Lenalee stooped down and pulled her phone from her purse before flipping it open and dialing dispatch. They picked up on the second ring, a pleasant voice replacing the annoying grate of a buzz.

"Dispatch, can I help you with anything?" The woman sounded pleasant enough, but Lenalee could hear the chatter and clamor behind her that belonged distinctly to the 12th Division's monitoring station. For all she knew the voice belonged to a frog-faced man with horns and red eyes, but that wasn't the matter at hand despite her curiosity.

"This is 13th Division Vice-Captain Lee, requesting a line to the Reassignments Department." The woman squeaked, and as Lenalee waited patiently she watched a rather large and colorful butterfly take off from a Hydrangea bush and flit across the open space in front of her.

"You'll be speaking directly to 5th Seat Orizaya of the 6th Division, the head of the Reassignments Department. Have a nice day ma'am." With a click the woman's voice was gone, replaced once again by the incessant buzzing of the ringers in the Seiretei's phone communication lines. This time the phone picked up after one ring, a nervous voice coming over the line along with the sound of shuffling papers.

"You needed to speak to me, Vice-Captain?" The man's voice was smooth despite the nervous note, and that quickly calmed as he managed to get things on his end of the line under control. "I hope you're not considering getting out of the 13th Division! Everyone there loves you."

"Of course not!" Lenalee's happy tone held a small admonishment, but nothing beyond it and nothing needlessly cruel. "Are shinigami allowed to go on Human Realm assignments while in the middle of a reassignment?" Her question must have stumped the poor man, because he fell quiet enough that Lenalee pulled the phone away from her ear to see if she was still connected. She returned the speaker to her ear just as the 5th Seat began speaking, his tone slow and careful.

"Ordinarily no, they need to have a Division that can account for their whereabouts at any time." The man paused, and the sound of shuffling papers came through the receiver as he apparently flipped through a book or text of some kind. "But if the shinigami in question was on assignment when their reassignment request went through because of some kind of miscommunication, I can see how they would be in the Human Realm without a specific Division. But that shinigami would be immediately recalled to the Seiretei so as to avoid somewhat-free agents in the field." Lenalee nodded absently at his words before realizing that the man couldn't see her, and gave a small noise of understanding as she processed the information. "Was that everything, ma'am?"

"No, actually, it wasn't." The Vice-Captain snapped her attention back to the man she was speaking to, situating her phone a bit better against her ear so that her acrylic nails didn't dig into her cheek as she grasped the receiver. "Is there a shinigami currently in the process of a transfer by the name of Lavi?" As shuffle of papers met her ears once again, and she sighed lightly at the apparent disorganization of the Reassignments Department.

"I'll be right back with that information, ma'am." Before the Vice-Captain could to object to his leaving the phone and running off the 5th Seat was gone, a slight clatter and background static the only thing coming through the receiver as she waited. To her alarm Lenalee spotted Lavi coming back, entering the park and making his way towards her at a steady and laid-back gait. The click of a receiver came through the phone just as the redhead sat down next to her, handing the Vice-Captain a surprisingly warm rainbow-patterned can of Boss Coffee. "Ma'am?" 5th Seat Orizaya sounded out of breath as he picked up the receiver, receiving most of the Vice-Captain's attention as he caught his breath slightly before continuing. "There isn't anyone by the name of Lavi on file as being transferred at the moment. If you would like I can do a more thorough check and have a text message of the results sent to your phone?" Lenalee muttered an affirmative and her thanks before shutting her phone, letting it slip through her fingers until she could grasp it by the metal charm of her Division's flower and lower it into her purse.

Her complete attention turned now to the redhead beside her. He calmly drank his coffee as though nothing was wrong, a picture of normalcy and nonchalance. He didn't look like the kind of man that would outright lie to a superior officer and certainly not like the kind of person that could potentially attack her, but then neither had Sosuke Aizen. As Lenalee cracked open the top of her coffee can she regarded the redhead with suspicion, careful not to let it show through as she ruminated on the mystery before her.

"What was that about?" She jumped as he spoke, snapping from her thoughts with a smile and a light titter of a laugh. She imagined for a moment that perhaps his one visible eye had been rather dark for a split second, watching her with a careful gaze, but it was only her thoughts. Without much warning she punched him in the shoulder, hard enough that he swayed and fell over off the low playground wall. "Lenalee's fist of love _hurts_." He squeaked from the ground, his coffee can miraculously un-spilled next to him. The phrase in his voice made her feel a melancholic happiness, a certain kind of contentment at a familial feeling that wasn't quite there anymore. She shook her head lightly, blinking heavily to dispel the feeling that she couldn't stand. She didn't understand or enjoy the déjà vu she had never experienced before, but there wasn't much she could do about it when it came down to it.

"You scared me!" Lenalee admonished, and the melancholic moment was over and replaced with one of general happiness with a new comrade. From the ground Lavi groaned theatrically, clutching at his arm with a look of horrible pain on his face despite the fact that it hadn't been there moments before.

"Oh woe is me!" He lamented, rolling onto his side and curling into the fetal position while still grasping at his shoulder and groaning as though he had just been stabbed. "Oh, the mean Vice-Captain's broken my shoulder into a billion pieces! This is abuse! Abuse! I'm never transferring to the 13th Division ever!" Lavi continued to moan and whine at a rather constant pace, his voice taking on an edge that made each word that much more annoying. Lenalee took a sip of her coffee and kicked him lightly in the leg, her face and demeanor nonchalant as she watched him squirm even more in mock pain.

-/-

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-/-

The sun was setting over the city skyline as the shinigami duo trudged along through the residential areas of Karakura. Occasionally Lenalee would check her phone and the two would head in a new direction, following flares of Reiatsu so faint that they barely registered but so distinct that they set off every warning bell that the little device had. Eventually the Vice-Captain had just muted the little thing, tired of hearing incessant beeps every time she shoved it back into her purse. They walked in relative silence along the side of the road, heading up a hill towards the nearest Reiatsu spike with a general weariness befalling both of them. Overlooking the city skyline and the sunset, Lenalee felt her phone buzz in her purse. It wasn't the buzz of another alert, but a received text message. She continued walking as she pulled her phone from her bag, flipping it open with a bit more finesse as she had finally mastered the use of it with her nails. Just in front of her and a bit to the right, Lavi looked over his shoulder with a curious expression as she scanned through the message.

"Your brother wonderin' where you are?" The Vice-Captain looked up at his question, her purple eyes blinking widely as she looked at him in utter confusion. His expression was happy, easygoing and warm despite the miles they had walked through Karakura all day. "Or maybe your Captain?"

"I don't have a brother." Lenalee's tone was careful and slow as she spoke, watching as his expression fell slightly before he turned back to the road ahead. Her confused expression quickly melted away as she went back to reading the text she had received from the Reassignments Department, clicking down through it with a deepening sense of confusion and suspicion. Her eyebrows suddenly raised as she read the next paragraph in the report, purple eyes flitting to the shinigami in front of her and then back down to the screen of her phone.

…_I've also taken the liberty of going through the library's records and there are none of anyone named 'Lavi' having graduated from the Academy; nor are there any records of him having been in any Division or transferred between Divisions. If this was a test of the Reassignments Department's competency, a little warning would have been nice before we were sent on a wild goose chase. Otherwise, the Shinigami in question does not exist…_ Lenalee re-read the paragraph several times, her eyebrows furrowing together before she looked back up at the redhead in front of her. Lavi had started whistling at some point, a light and halting tune that rose and fell in long repetitions, but he stopped and turned as he realized that the Vice-Captain was no longer following. A gust of wind blew down the road and whipped at the girl's hair, her salon curls flying everywhere as she looked up at him with a frankly quite hurtful amount of suspicion in her gaze.

"Something the matter?" Lavi asked, completely ignoring the looks she was giving him. His one visible green eye was half-lidded in a lazy contentment, and his voice was carefree and unassuming. Wordlessly the officer handed over her phone, her fingers brushing his for the barest of moments in a slight jump of electricity. She quickly pulled away, her hands clenched at her sides and ready to fly into action at a moment's notice. The redhead perused through the report, his green eye gaining a tired look as he flipped further and further through the message's contents.

"Explain yourse-" Lenalee began, her voice full of steel despite the kind and melancholic look that the redhead was giving her.

"I'm that Memory Rosary. I'm what you're looking for." Lavi cut the Vice-Captain off with his nonchalant tone, shutting her phone and tossing it underhand back to her. She caught it in one hand, her long acrylic nails clicking against each other as she dropped it back into her purse. "That's why I don't exist." His tone was suddenly a very tired one, nonetheless businesslike in its demeanor.

"Then why-" once again Lenalee was cut off as she began to speak, her eyes narrowing to venomous silts directed at the shinigami in front of her that refused to let her finish a sentence.

"I wanted to spend the day with you." The tired tone to his voice became a sad one, and the black-haired girl stepped back as he reached a hand out towards her. "I don't just want to fade into obscurity without saying goodbye first. I never got to last time." The whole world seemed to still as he said that, and Lenalee's expression softened immediately to one full of confusion. It took only moments for her to put two and two together and get four, and when she did an understanding dawned across her face that made Lavi give a sort of melancholic half-smile full of memories.

"You knew me in life." As she spoke, her tone was a guarded and suspicious one. Nonetheless she was intrigued, and it showed on her face in her raised eyebrows and sudden attentiveness. "At least one part of you did." Now that she really thought about it, and really looked, Lavi was familiar just like Yuu Kanda was in both name and face. It was something deeper than just a vague memory, but it was less than recollection in a way that made her hate herself for not being able to know what it was. He stirred a feeling like there was something on the tip of her tongue that she could remember everything about as long as she could remember the name.

"C'mon. Let's go find somewhere to sit down." Suddenly Lavi's hand was around her wrist, pulling her along up the road and into a residential area full of trees and white houses with low stone walls. Lenalee protested as best she could, stumbling behind him in a mad rush of limbs, but there was no point in trying to break his grip when he had yet to do a single thing wrong to her. The redhead pulled her over to a low wall bordering the retaining wall that backed the next level down of houses, the drop behind it frighteningly impressive until you got to the tiled roofs below. Before he could get her to sit down she finally wrenched her arm from his grasp, punching him in the shoulder once again and making him stumble.

"I'm not going anywhere or doing anything else with you until I get some answers!" The Vice-Captain's tone was authoritative; the one that she detested using on her subordinates but would if she had to. It was full of steel and spoke of orders that were not, under any circumstances, to be disobeyed. "Now, you're the Memory Rosary?" From his seat Lavi nodded, looking up at the short girl with a slightly amused expression on his face. "One of the lives that make up your memories knew me in life?" Again he nodded an affirmative, just barely leaning back as the girl loomed over him with a slightly frightening expression. "How well did you know me?" The redhead blinked his one eye in what appeared to be surprise, unsure of what he had just heard. He shook his head and laughed lightly, patting the wall next to him in an inviting gesture. Still worked up, Lenalee sat down on the bricks and dropped her purse on the ground next to her feet.

"I knew you for about two and a half years. We were both Exorcists for the Black Order, a part of the church that actively sought out demons and destroyed them in a war against a man calling himself the Millennium Earl." As he spoke, Lenalee's brows knitted together in abject confusion. "That cross you're wearing is called the Rose Cross, and it was the badge that marked people as Exorcists." The Vice-Captain's fingers immediately went to the silver cross hanging on a chain around her neck, picking it up and twisting it around to look at the face with all the writing on it. "You were one of the kindest, most caring people I ever knew in any life I ever lived, and I lived about fifty of them so that's saying something."

"You lived fifty lives?" Lenalee looked incredulous as she peered at the redhead beside her, finding it hard to believe that the Memory Rosary could only be made of the memories of fifty people. The more she thought about it, however, the more sense it made with the rest of the circumstances. There were very few Blanks roaming about, and the Valley of Screams was apparently still holding steady at its absolutely tiny size.

"From the day I was born I lived fifty different lives and had fifty different names, one after the other. I remember every single one of them, too. I don't particularly want to remember the last one, but I suppose that's par for the course." Lavi slumped over to lean onto his knees, his shaggy red hair obscuring the Vice-Captain's view of his face. Lenalee leaned a little closer, her expression softening into one full of care as she laid a manicured hand on the man's back.

"What happened?" She almost didn't want to know the answer, an apprehension she couldn't quite name and the indescribable feeling of the bottom dropping out of her stomach coming over her as she spoke. But Lavi turned to look at her with a wan smile, the emotion looking somehow forced, and straightened up to sigh.

"Everyone I knew and cared about died, Lenalee. We were on a mission to find one of our Generals, and along the way you were killed in the process of saving everyone in our group. When we found him we met up with Allen, and when he found out you were dead he didn't take it too well. He turned into this… Thing, and started killing everything he could. He killed the Millennium Earl and," Lavi paused and took a breath, his gaze turning to the sky and its brilliant orange and purple hues. Lenalee looked up along with him before turning her attention to his face, her gaze tracing the line of an eyepatch and unbound hair that she couldn't help but want to make him tie up so it would stop getting in his face. "His weapon turned against him and he went mad. I got killed by my own memories, which probably explains why I am what I am at the moment. Yuu probably died trying to kill Allen, though if he survived just to spite me and him I wouldn't be surprised." The redhead's attention snapped to the girl beside him as she giggled, one hand covering her mouth as she tried to stifle the noise. "What?" He asked, his tone a completely confused one as he raised his one visible eyebrow at the Vice-Captain.

"If you mean Yuu Kanda, he's the 9th Seat of the 11th Division. Surviving just to spite someone sound exactly like something he would do." The laugh that erupted from the redhead's throat was a relieved and happy one, and it nearly masked the sound of an alert from Lenalee's phone. As Lavi continued to laugh like he had just heard the greatest joke ever told she stooped down and grabbed the little device from her purse and flipped it open. A quickly-growing number of dots were circling their location, the bleeping of the phone coinciding with each new dot's appearance. A small counter in the corner of the screen belied that there were at least twenty of them, the number plateauing at twenty three and then droning off into a steady stream of beeps.

Just as she turned to look at the redhead beside her he stood, the shaggy-haired ruffian of a gigai falling backwards behind him to dissolve in a wisp of flame. Lenalee rooted in her own purse and pulled out her Soul Candy, quickly downing one of the green pills and ejecting from her own faux body. It nodded an affirmative as the Vice-Captain pointed down the street before running off, heels clicking on the blacktop and her curly hair streaming out behind her. The two shinigami stood in the sunset light and Lenalee stowed her phone in the front fold of her shihakusho, both of them scanning the street for any kind of movement whatsoever. Without warning Lavi threw an arm out in front of the pigtailed girl, his sleeves completely missing and exposing well-built muscles. On his shoulder was a black tattoo that seemed almost like a brand, a simple 49 inside a box that looked somewhat fresh. No sooner had he moved did the Blanks begin to ooze out of every open area that seemed to exist on the street, their clawed hands and pointed heads a bright shade of red that indicated hostility. With his opposite hand the redhead pulled his small knife from the front fold of his shihakusho, raising it in a back-handed defensive position along the line of his arm.

"These things are physical manifestations of my lives, right?" Lenalee vaguely remembered explaining the concept of a Blank to the redhead at some point during the day, probably while they had been eating ice cream by the fountain downtown. She nodded an affirmative anyway, sinking into a battle position as she scanned the crowd of roiling white bodies with a careful eye. "If I kill them they won't be after my memories anymore and that Valley of Screams will close, right? I'll be one soul with all my memories?" Again Lenalee nodded an affirmative, suddenly arriving at the same conclusion that her companion had. A grin spread across Lavi's face and he suddenly flipped the grip he held on his zanpakuto around, drawing it back over his shoulder in a motion not unlike Captain Kurosaki getting ready to fire a Getsuga Tenshou at an unsuspecting foe. "Grow, Tessei!" Suddenly he was holding a very large striped hammer and was bringing it down on the advancing Blanks, a half dozen of them exploding into gusts of wind on contact. As if on cue the rest of them surged forward, their fingers reaching and grasping in a horrible way.

"You are the wind in the butterfly's wings; you dance the waltz of the misty morning, Dark Boots!" Without waiting for Lavi to wind up another hit Lenalee jumped into the air, her heels coming down on top of two of the Blanks and carrying right through before she twirled and cut through three more. Beside her the hammer blew through four of them and was instantly beset by more of the white and red creatures, and Lenalee grabbed hold of the handle in order to flip herself up and over and then pivot herself around and slice through the offending spirits. With a light spring she launched herself into the air again, coming down in a jackknife motion to twirl and destroy more of the white creatures. A shadow fell over her as she threw her leg out in a kick and she looked up, catching view of the massive hammer headed straight for the remaining Blanks just in time for her to move quickly out of the way. As she stilled the asphalt under her feet cracked, the air doing the same and rattling the windows for blocks around as several car alarms went off. Before her eyes the hammer shrunk down to a manageable size, the spike at the top plunged into the asphalt without much thought as Lavi rested his foot on the main body of the weapon.

"I missed this." He looked happy as he spoke, totally at ease in the waning sunlight as he leaned against the long handle of his hammer. Lenalee smiled brightly and made her way over to the other shinigami, doing math in her head as she went. Everything suddenly seemed so normal and right despite the circumstances, and the Vice-Captain couldn't help but love the sensation as she looked off into the sunset over the redhead's shoulder.

"There's still at least three Blanks left. If they have any sense of self preservation they're hiding in the Valley of Screams." Lavi nodded, seeming for all the world as though nothing could ruin his current happy mood. "I'll go with you to find them, but after that I have to take you to the Seiretei to decide what'll be done about the situ-" Lenalee's phone buzzed and she jumped, the sensation taking her off guard before she reached into the front of her shihakusho and pulled the offending piece of technology out. Lavi suddenly found the sky very interesting as she did so, and she giggled lightly at the look on his face before flipping the phone open. No sooner had she done so did a Senkaimon fade into existence behind her, the message on her phone only half-read. She knew what it said anyway, and stowed the tech away in her shihakusho before turning to face the gate and sinking down to a kneeling bow. Her heels made it a little difficult to do so, and Lavi's good mood seemed to melt into confusion as he took in the situation before him.

From the Senkaimon came two butterflies, followed by two men in white haori. As the gates closed behind them their shihakusho fluttered in the wind, the sunlight painting them a dozen different hues of orange and purple in the steadily approaching darkness. On the left stood a man in his mid-twenties, his orange hair and stern expression fitting well with the dark-colored nodachi sheathed across his back. His haori had tattered sleeves, though the rest of it was in relatively good condition. On the right stood a man with long white hair, his shihakusho impeccable and looking like he couldn't be a day over thirty five. Somehow the sword at his waist seemed more impressive than the one across the back of his companion, exuding no more power but somehow possessing a presence with far more potency.

"Captain Ukitake! Captain Kurosaki!" Lenalee rose with a bow, coming to attention in a way that made Lavi feel as though he probably needed to as well. "Is something the matter?" Her question drew an apologetic look from the white-haired Captain, and she had the grace to look confused as she noticed it.

"The head of the Reassignments Department brought the existence of a man without files to the attention of Captain-General Yamamoto, Vice-Captain Lee." Captain Kurosaki was the first to speak, stepping forward with a businesslike air as he did so. "This is my town and Captain Ukitake's jurisdiction, so we've both been called in to assess the threat." He cut off what would have no doubt been a respectful protest with a raised hand and a shrug, looking apologetic. "Hey, this isn't my idea of a good time either. You'd think after twenty years he could get over his paranoia, but when something funny happens in Karakura nowadays the big guns are called out regardless of the situation."

"I have the situation under control." Lenalee's tone was careful as she spoke, skirting around too many emotions that could give away the day's happenings. Captain Ukitake nodded as he stepped forward as well, an easy and fatherly smile adorning his features as he laid a hand on the head of his Vice-Captain.

"I'm sure you do. It never hurts to have a little help now and then though, does it?" The man's eyebrows rose as he noticed Lavi for the first time, and he looked down at his second in command with a puzzled gaze. "It seems like you've already found some, though. Did you two manage to find the Memory Rosary?" Lenalee began to speak, unable to meet her Captain's eyes for fear of being caught in a lie that she felt horrible for telling to the absolutely kind man, but another voice cut her off.

"Actually," Lavi started as he pulled his hammer from the ground and twirled it upright, "that's me." In a flash of low light the hammer was a knife again, and he stowed it inside the front fold of his shihakusho without much regard for where the blade was pointing. Captain Ukitake looked down at his Vice-Captain in surprise, his pale hand leaving her head as she stepped backwards in her heels. The large disks at her ankles clicked as they impacted each other, and she finally stopped just barely away from the redhead behind her.

"I'm sorry." Her apology sounded pained, and in the dying light what looked like the sparkle of tears began to well up in her eyes. "I can't bring him back to Seiretei just yet." Lavi made a noise of protest and she stepped on his foot, making him yowl in pain and jump backwards grasping the offended appendage. "I've made up my mind."

"Don't be stupid, Lenalee." She whipped around to see Lavi still grasping at his foot, speaking around gritted teeth as he set it down on the ground and took his weight off the whole limb. "Stop sacrificing for everyone around you. I can go do this without you. Something tells me you'll be in trouble if you do this for me, and I don't need you doing that."

"Lenalee, what's going on?" Again the Vice-Captain's attention moved, this time back to her superior officers with wide eyes and a slight sense of panic. "What are you planning?" Captain Ukitake's face was wrought with confusion, the expression bordering on suspicion and his stance just barely belying that he could snap into action at any moment. Beside him Captain Kurosaki looked thoughtful, though he was no less suspicious than his colleague. He reached a hand out in a complacent gesture, a hopeful look coming over his features as he spoke. "What-"

"I'll bring him to Seiretei when we're done, I swear. I'm sorry Captain." Lenalee looked physically pained as she cut her Captain off, her hands grasping in the edge of her skirt with a white-knuckled ferocity as she diverted her attention to the tips of her boots. It was so far against protocol to still have them activated at this point that she could be demoted if word got to anyone higher than her, but after a split second of soul-searching the Vice-Captain found that she didn't care. There was something about the whole situation that just sat right with her, any wrongness she could feel coming from the thought of dragging Lavi to the Seiretei without destroying the last few Blanks. "We know how to make him a whole soul, and I feel like I owe this to him." A sad smile spread across the girl's face as she looked up at the two Captains as she spoke again, "we're going to the Valley of Screams. If everything goes alright, I should be back in time to finish my paperwork."

Captain Ukitake looked conflicted. There wasn't much else to say about the look on his face and the way he held himself except that he looked so torn he may as well have been two different people. His vision shifted from his Vice-Captain to the redhead behind her, the one-eyed man's visage about as stern as Captain Kurosaki's was. He could tell that the man didn't like the idea of her sacrificing anything to help him, regardless of whether or not he was the Memory Rosary. His brow furrowing the white-haired man shifted his vision to the sky above the sunset, his neck craning backwards as he took in the spectacular colors and darkening skyline. An eternity seemed to pass in silence and Captain Kurosaki crossed his arms, no doubt content to wait to act until he had something to hit. Finally the white haired man seemed to breath- he sighed deeply as he leveled his vision at his second in command with a no-nonsense tone. The sigh hitched in his chest for a moment and he gave a small cough, making both the Vice-Captain and Ichigo jump and start towards him. He waved them off with a wan smile before he turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

"I haven't found you or the shinigami you spoke of yet. Your phone is going to voicemail." The confusion that originally painted the minds of everyone present quickly became clear as Juushiro spoke, and Lenalee lit up into a grateful smile that seemed to make the whole area just a little brighter. "You have two hours before I report you missing." The stern and commanding tone in the old Captain's voice was tinged with care and worry, but the message was still clearly there. Lenalee nodded and bowed once more, turning to Lavi and grabbing hold of his arm before making a sudden jump that cracked through the air and set off car alarms for blocks around. A gust of wind blew down the street and the two Captains turned to each other, long white hair and shaggy orange hair whipping in the wind for a moment before it seemed to calm. His demeanor businesslike and just the slightest threat tingeing the Reiatsu he exuded, Captain Ukitake opened his mouth to speak.

"You have a Vice-Captain?" Captain Kurosaki cut him off, looking forcibly oblivious. He was not a stupid man by any regards, and he set his hands on his hips and looked out over the city skyline with a calm half-smile on his face. "News to me." Juushiro nodded, his attention turning to the beautiful skyline as well. "Hey-" Ichigo began, getting his comrade's attention with a nod of his head, "let's go get a couple gigai from Urahara. I know a good Korean joint downtown." The smile that stretched across Ukitake's face was a grateful one, and he nodded one to his companion in agreement.

"I'd like that." In a flash of shunpo the two Captains were gone, only the faintest hints of their Reiatsu belying that they had been anywhere near the area.

-/-

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**WOAH. So this took me like three days to write and feel good about. I like it though, even if it seems kinda rushed to me. Does it seem rushed to you? I hope it doesn't, it's like 6.5K words again D:**

**I wish I had more to say right now but I really don't. Next chapter will be a conclusion to the Zanpakuto Rebellion/Beast Swords filler and then on to the Miscellaneous Adventures of Lenalee and Ukitake for a few more Turn Back the Time Record chapters. **

**I'm sitting on a park bench outside my school writing this on my laptop, really hoping nobody is looming over my shoulder and reading this while I type and that it doesn't rain. The clouds are kinda dark, though, and I just woke up after sleeping through a class. **

**Next chapter will have Sogyo no Kotowari. You guys have no idea how badly I've wanted to write those two and Lenalee this entire time. It's gonna be great and amazing and absolutely adorable and I'm rambling but I love talking to you guys. **

**Please review. I think this chapter just put this fanfiction over the word count for The Loveless. I'll finish that eventually, I swear. If this chapter didn't do it the next one definitely will, and it's only 12 out of like 16. **

**So yeah, peace yo.**

**LCROHGODISTHATABEEASalksdjfh-**


	12. Night 12: Turn Back the Time Record 6

**Back in Black**

_Lt. Commander Richie_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own either Bleach or D Gray-man. Eyup.

**A/N: **I love this idea so much. Unfortunately it was born of writer's block. But still, it's a great idea in my opinion~ The adventures of Lenalee in Soul Society, should she be dead and in possession of a dual zanpakuto! Yeah!

PS: This is the last chapter I have finished. Figures. I'll manage to write the rest of this if it kills me, though it more than likely will.

_Night 12: Turn Back the Time Record Part 6

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Her quarters were dark despite the later hour of the day, and Lenalee slumbered peacefully on her futon without much care. The air was warm and she wore a simple yukata from the 4th Division because of her discharge the day before- evidenced by the multitude of bandages she still wore on all her cuts. Most of her exposed skin was covered in bruises and white bandages, and she reached up in her sleep and itched at one on her forehead with equally bandaged fingers. From the corner a shadow watched her movement, deeper than the other shadows of the room but no more harmful. It roiled like a cloud, smoky and black yet possessing in its own way a sense of presence. By the door into the pocket garden sat the 5th Seat's shoes, unassuming and simple in their ability to sit and look innocent.

The short-lived Zanpakuto Rebellion had been devastating to the 13 Court Guard Squads. Spirits that hadn't been reined in fast enough had caused major damage, and those that had killed their previous masters were running amok in the Seiretei. A good portion of the shinigami forces were incapacitated in some form- be it through loss of their zanpakuto or injury because of the rogue spirits, and life in the 13 Court Guard Squads had basically ground to a standstill for an indeterminate amount of time. The 12th Division was nearly nonexistent, only a few buildings left standing after Vice-Captain Kurotsuchi's chase of her rather large golem of a spirit through the area and its subsequent further demolishing by the 6th Division's Vice-Captain and his zanpakuto spirits. Part of the 13th Division gardens was nothing more than a smoking plain of charred plants and earth after an unfortunate fight between two higher-ranking officers from the 7th Division and their spirits. The 4th Division was overflowing with injured, though through the combined efforts of their Captain and her zanpakuto spirit the number of injured was beginning to thin.

It was a pity that such an unfortunate thing had happened during such nice days. The air was clear and warm, almost insufferably so, but the wind that blew through Seiretei cooled the temperature to a manageable level. The weather had held steady like that for nearly two weeks and showed no signs of stopping- usually it marked time for those without pressing duties to shirk them further and disappear for the day to fish or relax. But not only was it wartime, there were more pressing matters than nice weather at hand. Nobody shirked and nobody disobeyed orders because of the urgency of the Rebellion.

The sounds of laughter filtered through the shoji doors into the pocket garden, making the patch of shadow in the corner of the 5th Seat's quarters shift in a vaguely human way. It seemed to cock an ear forward, listening intently to see just what it was that was making the noise. An incessant banging suddenly took over the whole small garden, like the sound of hands slamming open every door that ringed the small area as the sound of feet on the hardwood walkway echoed through the floor. Lenalee began to stir at the sound, her eyes screwing shut tighter in a way that belied that she was trying very, _very _hard not to wake up. Suspicious, the shadow spread across the floor in a river of smoke, coming to rest just before the door and shooting up into an armless human form with long and curling white hair. It loomed over the shoji doors with an imposing air, its white curls drifting about like the smoke it was made of. In a loud bang sunlight flooded the room, the doors jumping in their tracks from the force used to open them. The smoky spirit flinched slightly, its inhuman face somehow displaying surprise as it couldn't see the culprit that had woken its master from her much-needed sleep. Twin screams of pure joy made the spirit jump, the roiling mass of black smoke that made up its feet visibly twitching as it turned its head all the way around in a completely impossible movement to look at the culprits.

Lenalee was sitting up in bed, rubbing her eyes with her un-bandaged hand as two small boys ran circles around her futon. Their blue priestly garments nearly flew behind them as they ran, laughing and giggling madly like only five-year-olds could. One of them tripped over the hem of his hakama and fell to the tatami floor, his blue hat flying from his head and landing several feet away. His twin tripped over him and made a full flip in the air before landing on his back, his hat askew and looking rather dazed. As one the two boys began laughing even harder, ignorant of the dazed and confused expression that the 5th Seat beside them was giving them. They scrambled to their feet and the one still with his hat reached up with small hands to fix its placement while the other ran to his misplaced one and jammed it on his head. Again the two boys began to run, undeterred as they ran right through the smoky being that tried to stop them.

"Who do you two belong to?" Lenalee had brought herself to a kneeling position on her futon, watching the two boys chase each other around the room with curiosity. They paused and looked at each other, their wide green eyes full of wonder as though they had never thought of that before. As one the twins suddenly ran at the 5th Seat, jumping at her and nearly bowling her backwards in a double-teamed flying hug. She managed to stay upright and wrapped her arms around the boys to return the hug, ignoring the pain in her bandaged wounds. "Are you two lost?" The two blue hats in her immediate vision shook wildly, the two boys giving her a firm _no_.

"Will you play with us?" The boy on her left was the first to speak, looking up her with a pleading note in his large green eyes that was very difficult to deny.

"Please please please please?" The other one pleaded, jumping up and down even as he held onto the unfortunate officer.

"Katen's mean and doesn't wanna play." The first boy looked a little frightened as he spoke, apparently afraid of whoever he spoke of.

"Kyokotsu's laaaaaaazy!" The second boy looked adorably angry as he stretched his words, his small fists balling in the 5th Seat's yukata and shaking it. Somewhere in Lenalee's sleep-addled brain something seemed to click together, and she blinked several times in a very slow manner before looking up at her zanpakuto spirit and then down at the two boys that refused to let go of her.

"Sogyo no… Kotowari?" The two boys wriggled out of the girl's grasp as she spoke, looking somewhat cross as they stood next to each other in front of her. The smoky half of Dark Boots loomed over them, its inhuman features watching the two boys carefully as its hair floated gently as though suspended in water.

"You won't play with us either?" Immediately the two boys were pummeling the girl with their small fists, barely any strength behind their attacks but plenty of childish anger. Before they could blink the small spirits were nearly thrown from the room, a dark miasma of smoke following them out the doors into the small pocket garden and forming back into the dark zanpakuto spirit. It loomed over them with a fearsome expression, bending at what could be considered the waist to get into the boy's faces with its pit-like white eyes and inhumanly wide red mouth stretching into a freakish smile. A beat of silence passed between them before the two boys screamed about as loud as they could, the two of them making an effect akin to surround sound. They scrambled to their feet and pulled fans from their sleeves, batting furiously at the air in an effort to blow the spirit away. Lenalee got to her feet and pulled on a light haori with as much haste as she could before running out into the garden in her bare feet and picking up the twins in her arms. They continued to bat at the spirit with their fans, their scream unceasing.

"Where's Captain Ukitake?" Lenalee's voice was calm despite the toddlers screaming in her ears, a very unconcerned note in her voice as she addressed the two boys. One quieted but the other didn't, and the quiet one smacked his brother with his fan. The two began squabbling across the 5th Seat, the frightening face of the smoky half of Dark Boots and the officer's question completely forgotten. She immediately set one of the boys down and held onto his hand, hoisting the other higher up on her hip. They still swiped at each other until Lenalee began walking, her barefoot strides much longer than anything they could have made. The boy she held the hand of ran to keep up with her, and she made her way down the small corridor between two officers' quarters from the pocket garden to the main gardens with purpose in her steps.

"You're gonna play with us?" The boy she held on her hip looked excited, his small hands fisted in her sleeping yukata and his large green eyes wide with wonder. The 5th Seat sighed loudly but nodded, turning a corner on the outside walkway of the building and making her way to the garden doors of her Captain's office. Her arms both hurt and her legs burned but she ignored them, electing instead to just hoist the boy she held on her hip up a little higher since he had started to fall. Behind her the smoky half of her zanpakuto spirits followed, slithering along the ground in a river of blackness that gave the impression of careful watching. The boy that Lenalee held the hand of looked behind her and then sped up, pulling her along with a frightened urgency as he noticed the trailing blackness.

As she turned the final corner along the walkway to the area of the garden that held the back doors to Captain Ukitake's office Lenalee breathed a sigh of relief. Not only was her Captain there but Captain Kyouraku was present as well, the two of them sitting on the edge of the walkway with a teapot and cups between them. One of Captain Kyouraku's zanpakuto spirits, the Oiran with the skull headdress, sat in the shade of the roof behind them tuning a Shamisen. The two men looked up as she approached, taking in the spectacle with quiet understanding. The one boy let go of Lenalee's hand and ran to the white-haired Captain, tackling him in a hug much like he and his twin had done to the unfortunate 5th Seat. She went to set the other boy down but he held on like a limpet, shaking his head wildly until his hat nearly fell off. With a long-suffering sigh Captain Ukitake stood with the one boy held on his one side, approaching the 5th Seat with an apologetic smile on his face as he took the second boy from her.

"I apologize if they woke you." Lenalee shook her head and smiled brightly, waving away the apology with a hand. Captain Ukitake returned to his seat, setting the two boys down next to him where they could swing their legs off the edge of the raised wooden walkway. He reached into his sleeves and pulled out sticks of dango for both of them with a flourish, leaving the officer behind him with a perplexed look on her face as to why he was hiding them in there to begin with. Captain Kyouraku peered up at the 5th Seat with a smile from under his large hat, patting the edge of the walkway next to him.

"You're looking as pretty as ever, little Lena. Come sit and grace us old men with your beau-" there was a loud and off-key bang as his zanpakuto spirit smacked him with her Shamisen, eliciting a playful whine from the 8th Division's Captain. "My beautiful Kyokotsu, you're so mean to me!" The scruffy man's lament fell on deaf ears as the beautiful woman began the tuning of her instrument anew. With a light smile Lenalee knelt on the wooden walkway next to him, her hands clasped gently in her lap. On her other side the black smoke of her zanpakuto spirit coalesced into a puddle of darkness that quickly formed a vaguely human and white-haired shape. Its wide and pit-like white eyes squinted into the sun, vague swirls and shapes visible as the light hit its form. A content silence fell over the assembled spirits and shinigami, the warm air lending a kind of sluggishness to the day that wouldn't have otherwise been there. "Would you like some tea, little Lena? Maybe something stronger?" Lenalee's attention turned to the man next to her with a snap, her long unbound hair falling over her opposite shoulder in a curtain of black. She shook her head at the lazy smile he wore, watching it refuse to change as he nodded sagely and sat up to pour her a cup of tea.

"Thank you." She nodded and accepted the cup, taking a gentle sip so as to keep herself from getting burnt. Beside her Captain Kyouraku pulled out a large sake cup and a bottle, pouring himself a drink of his own. Further down the line of shinigami and spirits Captain Ukitake fixed his long-time friend with a _look_, the kind that could make even Captain Kuchiki break eye contact first. The large man's shoulders shrugged, his many layers of clothing rustling with the movement in a way that made him seem much larger than he was to begin with. Still, he slid the bottle back where it came from inside his robes and downed what he had poured for himself before stowing the cup away as well.

"Where's your other half?" The smoky black spirit's wide white eyes blinked several times as its head swiveled unnaturally to look at Captain Kyouraku. The motion made his laid back smile falter slightly towards disturbed, but it quickly fixed itself without much notice. The spirit's unnaturally wide red mouth opened and words seemed to fall out like water from a faucet, not at all like normal speech in that the spirit seemed to exude the sounds.

"Somewhere, I think." The voice was ethereal and thin in the bright mid-afternoon light, as though it was a shadow in the night being shone through by a lantern. "I don't keep track of him and he doesn't keep track of me. We're two completely separate entities." An understanding silence fell over the group then, broken only by laughing from the small twins that made up Sogyo no Kotowari as they prodded at each other with their sharpened dango skewers until Captain Ukitake took them away. Then they began hitting each other with their fans, and before he could take those away as well they were on their feet and running down the walkway and around the corner. The white-haired man gave a long-suffering sigh and put a hand to his forehead, picking his teacup up with his free one and taking a long gulp of the apparently scalding liquid. He seemed unharmed, however, and poured himself another cup as Kyokotsu began playing her Shamisen.

The beautiful melody filled the garden and seemed to blend with the surroundings, Captain Kyouraku leaning back onto the wooden walkway and grabbing his large hat to place on his head and tip over his face. The whole afternoon seemed to slow as the music filtered through the air, careful sips of tea accompanying the eventual snores of the 8th Division's Captain and the flutter of Hell Butterflies from one flowering bush to the next. The roiling black cloud of a spirit began to melt in on itself in an almost drowsy fashion, its white hair drooping like running paint. Lenalee smiled at the imagery, accepting a new cup of tea from her Captain and blowing over the top of it before taking a light sip. Eventually the spirit melted down into a puddle of blackness, its form still corporeal in that it refused to run off the edge of the walkway and onto the ground like any normal fluid would. The wind picked up for a moment and blew a rustling sound through the trees, but it died down as quickly as it came and the temperature rose once more in the stillness.

The tune Kyokotsu had picked to play was coming to an end as the sound of footsteps began to sound through the garden. From around the corner closest to Lenalee, with a tinkle and crash of crystal clicking together, came the male spirit of Dark Boots. His hands were tucked into his large layers of sleeves and his long curls of black hair were carefully held back by the crystals that grew from his skin. His beautiful face, usually sporting a half-smile of various strengths, was blank and almost stern looking in the afternoon light. With every movement he sparkled, and with a thick rustling noise the spirit sat down on the walkway behind his master and pulled her to him in an almost possessive gesture. Lenalee squeaked in alarm, a blush rapidly rising to her cheeks, but she managed to keep from spilling her tea all over the spirit's rich clothing. A pale arm held her at the waist; the spirit's other hand idly playing with the 5th Seat's hair in an offhand gesture.

"He's gone." The usually playful and silken purr of a deep voice had completely left the spirit. His tone was deep and businesslike, uncannily like that of Captain Kuchiki's in its severity. Lenalee twisted slightly to look up at her zanpakuto spirit, surprise written across her face as she realized that he was addressing Captain Ukitake. The white-haired man looked grim as he processed the information, setting his cup of tea down and lowering his forehead into his hands in a surprising gesture of what seemed like defeat. Long strands of fine white hair fell around his face like a curtain, amplifying the demeanor until it seemed as though the strong man that Lenalee had come to admire in her years serving in the 13th Division was completely at a loss. Even in bouts of sickness she had never seen him like this, and the prospect of what it meant absolutely terrified her. Her free hand fisted in the rich clothes her zanpakuto spirit wore, unmindful of the small shards of crystal that cut at the bandages on her palms.

"What's-" Lenalee tried to speak, her voice coming out with a light tremble to it that tinged the confusion with a worried note.

"4th Seat…" An apprehension seemed to fall over the male half of Dark Boots as he turned his attention to the girl he held in his lap, and his grip on her waist tightened as he took a breath and began again. "Yoshi, Lenalee. Yoshi Shiratori is dead."

Lenalee's mouth fell open in a slow motion as she processed the information, her eyes growing wide before they brimmed over with tears and she twisted to bury her face into the chest of the spirit holding her. Her sobs were quiet and muffled by the fabric, only the shaking of her shoulders any indication that she was crying. Both of the spirit's arms encircled her shoulders, his forehead lowering to rest on the top of her head in a comforting gesture. In a slinking, snake-like movement the puddle of darkness beside the two curled up around them in something resembling a hug. The 5th Seat's mouth opened and she tried to force words out, but they refused to come through gasps for air and shaky attempts to keep from crying out.

"How?" She finally managed to ask, her eyes clenched shut to stop the tears that were staining the spirit's clothes. The effort didn't do much, however, and she shook her head to clear the stuffy clouds from it in a nearly futile gesture. Her purple eyes opened with a series of blinks as her Captain answered, her eyelashes wet and sticking together in a forlorn way.

"Yesterday he engaged his zanpakuto spirit and lost. He's been fighting his injuries since he was brought to the 4th Division last night." Captain Ukitake's usually strong voice seemed almost defeated, and his long fingers laced through his hair in a nearly desperate gesture. With a groan Captain Kyouraku suddenly sat up, adjusting his hat with one hand and heartily clapping his old friend on the back with the other. The mood seemingly refused to lighten as he spoke, despite the tone that the old Captain used.

"It wasn't by any shortcoming of his that he died, Juushiro." Captain Kyouraku paused, looking thoughtful as he scratched at his chin. "If fact, it was probably because he did his job a little too well. That zanpakuto of his, Shiroka, it does more collateral damage than physical damage. You know that and I know that, hell I'm pretty sure everyone knows that now." As the laid-back man spoke, Lenalee disentangled herself from her zanpakuto spirits and sat up. She wiped at her eyes with the heels of her hands, taking deep breaths in an effort to stay calm. Tears still welled in the corners of her eyes, but she tried her best to quell them before they could trickle down her cheeks.

"Is Shiroka still free?" The wavering voice of the 5th Seat quickly got the attention of both Captains, Captain Kyouraku nodding solemnly as he turned to look at her. A certain and determined steel seemed to come over the girl then, a frightening coldness sweeping over the look in her eyes as she wiped the last of the tears from her face. "I would like permission to capture or destroy the rogue zanpakuto spirit, sir." The quizzical, almost hurt look that came from her white-haired Captain's brown eyes made her jaw set in a defiant manner that she didn't care to mask in her grief. "This is something I feel that I have to do." As her words hung in the air, heavy with purpose and seething determination, Captain Ukitake paused for a long moment. He closed his eyes, leaning his head into one hand in a hopeless gesture that seemed so at odds with the usually indomitably strong man.

"Granted." When he finally spoke, his voice was resigned. The old Captain sounded as though he had given up fighting the situation, and his equally somber old friend beside him looked as though he knew that. One large hand came up to rest on his shoulder, shaking it lightly before falling back to its owner's lap. In one demurely fluid motion Lenalee stood, her sleeping yukata and long sleeveless haori falling around her ankles with a light swish. She nearly stumbled as her legs decided that they didn't quite work, but caught herself with a dose of willpower that was nearly palpable. Behind her, both of her zanpakuto spirits rose and started to her aid. The 5th Seat raised a hand, however, and they stilled with equal worried expressions on their faces. With a light bow to her two superiors the black-haired girl turned to return to her quarters in silence.

"Lenalee." Her name, in her Captain's voice, made the officer pause and turn back to the old friends. Captain Ukitake looked businesslike as he stood, brushing off his hakama and white haori before facing the 5th Seat with a fearsomely serious look. "When you return, you will be my new 4th Seat. This is not negotiable." Lenalee looked slightly indignant, but she nodded tersely and turned her back to the Captains. Her gait as she walked away looked as though she should have been limping, but it was proudly steady despite the occasional shake. The male spirit of her zanpakuto followed after her, his arms half raised as though he was ready to take his master by the waist and pick her up to carry her. Behind them, the ethereal white-haired form of the other spirit bowed at an impossible angle at what could be considered its waist before falling onto itself and following the other two along. Captain Ukitake sighed in a heavy movement that seemed to deflate him, and he closed his eyes and brought a hand to the bridge of his nose. Behind the two Captains, Kyokotsu finished the retuning of her Shamisen and began a new tune in a different style.

"Juushiro." His name being spoken made the old Captain look up, his age showing in the gauntness of his features for the first time in a very long time. In a shuffling swish of fabric on fabric his oldest friend stood with a smile that could only be described as melancholic on his face. "It's not your fault. You're lucky to have as many officers with as much determination and devotion as you do."

"I wonder if I'll ever see someone deserving of it outlive me." A hearty punch to the shoulder hit the white-haired Captain head-on, and he stumbled to the side with a yelp of surprise. As he regained his footing he blinked several times in surprise, noting the particularly somber look on his old friend's face. "Shunsui?" He asked, confusion tinting his voice. Immediately the frumpy-looking man brightened up, tipping his large hat back with a genuine grin and gesturing to the rather impressive-looking Oiran sitting in the shade. She gave him a particularly heavy glare with her one eye, but her playing of the Shamisen stopped with a slightly flat note and she stood in a single graceful motion that shouldn't have been possible to a woman wearing as many layers as she was. The instrument seemed to disappear into her person, and with the amount of clothing she wore it could have ended up anywhere.

"We're going drinking. C'mon!" Without listening to the words of protest from Juushiro, Shunsui grabbed him by the arm and hoisted him along with his large stride. Kyokotsu followed, her one visible eye rolling at the antics of the two.

-/-

* * *

-/-

The sentient little flicker, nothing more than a bright white ball of floating spirit flame, crackled in the air not thirty feet in front of her. It wobbled from side to side, twisting and twirling about as though it was hanging from a string on a stick held by a small child. It twisted once again and suddenly stilled, something catching its attention. Lenalee held a hand out to her side to stop her zanpakuto spirits as they followed her, but the two had already stilled. Without warning the little flame sparked, nothing more than a hiccup in the small spirit's eyes, and the wall it floated next to exploded in a massive cloud of rubble and flame. Dust and rocks flew everywhere and Lenalee shielded her eyes, the bandages on her arms blocking most of the small pieces of detritus.

As the small spirit sparked again and another wall exploded into rubble and flames, the newly-appointed 4th Seat let her Reiatsu flare wildly. It reached out in a cloying cloud of intent, totally at odds with her usual demeanor as she stood her ground and dug her black shoes into the tiles. The little flame seemed to twitch and flip; twisting to fix what appeared to be two black spots for eyes on her. They disappeared for a moment in what appeared to be a blink, before the little spirit sparked once more in a motion reminiscent of a sneeze and the ground next to the officer exploded in a rush of heat and rubble. She didn't even raise a hand to call out a mid-level Bakudo spell, the shield snapping into place just in time for rocks and dust to fly around her and impact the walls. Again the little ball of fire sparked, this time the ground in front of the 4th Seat exploded with enough force that even through the new mid-level shield she cast her pigtails were blown backwards.

"You are the wind in the butterfly's wings; you dance the waltz of the misty morning, Dark Boots!" Without waiting for the rubble to clear Lenalee crouched and released her zanpakuto, leaping into the air with a determined look on her face. She twisted and brought her heels down where she knew the spirit had last been, but all she caught was the ground as it exploded around her from the force of her landing. Twenty feet in front of her stood a man with paper white skin, his hair the same color and much longer than her Captain's and ending in an inferno of white flames. His clothing was made of the same fire in places, but completely pristine white cloth in others. In his hand he held the unreleased form of Yoshi Shiratori's zanpakuto, a plain katana with a white Tsukamaki and a white tassel hanging from the end.

"Obliterate!" The man's voice was like the crackle of the flames that made up most of his body, and as he snapped his sword out to the side and switched grips with the hand he held it in it burst into flame as well. Everything about it turned white, but not the beautiful shade of white of snow or clouds. It was an ashen white, tinged gray and orange with flame and destruction- those same flames burst forth in a whip that snapped outward at the 4th Seat with a lightning fast movement. She watched it approach before jumping into a backflip, twisting tightly in the air before kicking off the open sky and heading straight for the spirit. She twisted just in time to try and drive her heel into his face, missing only by inches as he moved at the last second. She could feel the heat the spirit emanated just by existing as she passed, and skittered across the stones of the walkway she was using as her battleground with her heels kicking up sparks as she twisted to keep the spirit in her view.

"Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel! With light, divide this into six!" Before she had even stilled the officer threw her hands up, all of her concentration focused on the spell she was casting "Bakudo #61, Six Bars of Light Prison!" As the Bakudo spell went off Lenalee stopped herself, crouching against the solid open air beneath her as she caught her bearings parallel to the ground. The fiery spirit, surprised, dropped the zanpakuto it held and struggled futilely against the binding spell with all its might. In a movement that shattered the air hard enough to cause a clap of thunder, Lenalee sprung forward and flipped to catch the spirit under the chin and shoot him into the air. Before he could get his bearings she was beside him, winding up another kick and letting it loose to blow him back into the ground with enough crushing force that the stone walkway around him shattered and exploded upward in a cloud of rubble and dust. Without hesitation the 4th Seat dropped like a rock into the cloud of debris, her intent fully on nothing more than the destruction of the rogue spirit. As she stilled for a moment a white hot blade suddenly impacted her side, searing flesh and ripping a massive hole in her obi and shihakusho.

"Beginning theme," a crackling voice hissed into the ear of the 13th Division officer, the spirit's breath uncomfortably hot on her bare skin to the point that she almost felt the flesh sear. "Flame Puppets." All around her flashes of fire lit up in the dust, quickly taking a shape akin to her own and sliding into ready positions for attacking. Paying no attention to them, the 4th Seat reached back and grabbed the hair of the spirit that held her. The strands seared at her bandages, some of them even blackening into cinders, but she yanked hard enough that he yelped in surprise and stumbled. Freed of his uncomfortably hot grip she twisted and brought her heel down into the small of his back. The spirit hit the ground and rolled, bringing his sword up with a whip of flame trailing behind it. He flicked the blade and something behind the 4th Seat exploded, sending her stumbling into the air as she kicked off to avoid the debris. Twisting and ignoring the blazing pain of the cauterized wound in her side, Lenalee turned to face the rogue spirit and stilled at an odd angle in the sky. Her hands immediately came forward to make a triangle shape, the blazing form of the ashen white man clearly in her sights in the center.

"Walls of ironsand, a priestly pagoda, glowing ironclad fireflies!" The spirit began to register what the 4th Seat was doing by the time she reached the midway of the spell, but the dust and debris still in the air were too thick to see where her voice was coming from. "Standing upright, silent to the end! Bakudo #75, Quintet of One Kan Iron Pillars!" With no more warning than the incantation, five large iron pillars faded into existence and promptly fell on top of the rogue spirit. As they began to fall the chains on top of them held the quintet together, the entirety of the massive weight resting solely on the back of the ashen man. His sword had fallen from his grip and skittered across the broken ground, landing a good half dozen feet away. It was onto that blade that Lenalee fell, her heels impacting the white metal and utterly crushing it in several places. With a series of snaps the hot metal busted apart beneath her feet, hissing and spitting sparks like a mad cat made of flames. The spirit yelled in anger, his hair and clothing spitting sparks and flames as things in the general area began exploding. What was left of the walls around what had once been the walkway they were fighting on were promptly reduced to rubble, then the buildings of the 6th Division on all sides around them, then more walls beyond that. Wooden supports and window slats, floors, doors, they all caught fire and burned as the spirit yelled and thrashed underneath the massive weight of the high-level Bakudo spell.

Fighting like this, surrounded by fire and death and rubble, made Lenalee feel as though she had forgotten something important. Her hand went to her pigtails, of all places, grabbing at the long tails before grabbing at her gold hair ties to make sure they were still there. It was an odd movement that didn't make the slightest bit of sense to the officer, but she quickly shook herself out of the stupor and approached the trapped rogue spirit. He had begun yelling curses at some point, his fingers scraping at the ground around him and leaving burnt trails in the dirt. She sunk down on one knee to look at him, the sharp points at the toes of her boots deterring his grasping fingers from targeting her feet.

She opened her mouth to speak just as a white-hot hand grabbed at the back of her neck, searing at her flesh with flickering fingers as more hands alighted on her ankles and arms. A triumphant look dawned over the spirit's face, and the 4th Seat cursed her forgetting about the clones that the Beast Sword had made. She kicked out and broke the grip of one of the doppelgangers just as the spirit began to dissolve into wisps of fire, the high-level Bakudo she had cast on him falling flat on the ground as a single small flicker of flame floated out from between the pillars. It twirled and danced in a way that seemed almost smug, flipping and twisting and bouncing with freedom.

Lenalee twisted, feeling skin blister and sear with the movement, and brought her free heel down on top of one of the clones. It exploded into a burst of hot air and flame, a shrill cry reaching the officer's ears as she kicked upward and nicked another of the fiery doppelgangers. The one grasping the back of her neck let go, only to wrap its hand in one of her long pigtails and pull. Accompanied by the acrid smell of burning hair, the white-hot hand suddenly came free. Choppy and short hair wisped limply around the face of the 4th Seat, burned off roughly at the level of her chin. In a movement that by all means should not have been possible, the young officer twisted upward and turned to drive her foot into one of the remaining fiery figures. She continued the movement and used what upper-body strength she had to throw the clone holding one of her arms over her shoulder and onto her knee. The armor there impacted the fiery doppelganger's face and it exploded like the others, a shrill scream accompanying the motion.

"Second theme, Flurry of Dancing Flames." Her newly-shortened hair whipping into her face in a motion that was all kinds of annoying, Lenalee spun to face the humanoid form of Shiroka's spirit. As the hair fell from her eyes the officer had just enough time to duck, narrowly dodging an explosion of fireballs that flew forward with erratic paths. The 4th Seat's body strongly protested the motion, but as she ducked she swept herself forward and into a slide across the ground and towards the feet of the Beast Sword. She reached him just in time to throw a foot up and launch him upwards, following after with only a second's respite. The paper-white spirit swung his sword and launched another flurry of fireballs at the officer, but in a flicker she was behind him and performing a flip that flung him into the ground with enough force to create a crater in the already-broken ground.

"Hado #33! Blue Fire, Crash Down!" A burst of blue Kido hit the spirit just as he tried to pull himself up, and Lenalee took the chance to center herself over the Beast Sword and let herself fall. Fire reached up around her and she felt it lick at her legs, Shiroka having flung his sword at her once more in an attempt to blow her away. Several of the 4th Seat's bandages flickered and caught, but with a massive explosion of sound, fire, rubble and Reiatsu she hit the ground heels-first right on the midsection of the ashen white spirit. With an angry yell and a metallic crunch he flickered away, the flames around the officer and the Beast Sword dying down with a flutter. Lenalee looked down at her feet, her eyes alighting on the sword beneath her heels with two clean breaks in it and the soot that blackened the dirt around her. As the embers around her began to die out she finally opened her mouth as though to breathe.

Her first breath came out as a gasp. One leg, and then the other, buckled out from beneath the 4th Seat and she fell forward onto the broken ground. In an instant a shadow was beneath her, supporting and cushioning the girl as she fell. Two strong hands took her by the middle and pulled her up into stronger arms, carefully cradling her beaten form as though it was made of eggshells. In places where her bandages had burned away the officer had begun to bleed again, and the red liquid spread across the clothes of the richly-dressed spirit that held her.

"You've done well." His deep and loving voice was a gift to the 4th Seat, and she weakly shook her head in protest as she grasped at his clothes with loose fingers. Her burned pigtail hung forlornly, swinging gently as the crystal-adorned spirit began walking in the direction of the 4th Division. Its twin, still long, was trapped between the officer's body and the spirit's arm.

"He should still be here," the pigtailed girl began, her voice shaking with an effort that seemed to be going towards not showing any weakness. "Yoshi shouldn't be gone."

"You did what he couldn't, Lenalee." Large purple eyes fixed on the face of the strong spirit that held her, and the edges of them shone with unshed tears that threatened to well over. "You've surpassed him. Remember that." The tears finally welled over and the 4th Seat let out a small sob, her fingers tightening around the rich cloth she held. A red stain blossomed from around her grip, bleeding into the mint green fabric and throwing the glowing green crystal chips that adorned it into stark relief. Lenalee's dark hair bobbed as she bit her lip, stifling her cries as she nodded her assent.

-/-

* * *

**Eleven pages exactly, straight up. I like this development. **

**I didn't even have plans to kill Yoshi Shiratori to begin with. When I wrote chapter five he was still the 4****th**** Seat of the 13****th**** Division, but I went back and edited that out when I got rid of him. But so yeah, now he's dead and Lenalee is just one Seated position below Kiyone and Sentaro. She'll stay that way until after the Arrancar arc. **

**I'm not too sure how I'll deal with the current predicament of Aizen and his mullet-ness being all up in Karakura, but hopefully recent developments will keep me from having to do too much. **

**SO YEAH I AM SO SEASICK LOL I'M ON A BOAT. Yes. Writing this in international waters on a slow boat to Alaska and hopefully will be writing the next chapter on the same boat. Unless something unforeseen comes up next chapter will be the end of the DEATH 49 chapters. Blegh. **

**I really ought to update The Loveless. I'll try to get around to writing that chapter before the end of this trip. **

**Peace, yo. Blergh. **


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